Reliability Analysis of PMSM Drives Processor for Commercial Electric Vehicle Utility

The power electronic components of industrial drives are housed in sophisticated environmental conditions as they are subjected to fixed operating conditions. Unfortunately, this is not possible in the case of Electrical Vehicles (EV), as operating conditions vary from location to location and region to region. Due to these switching operating conditions, its reliability is still a matter of concern, especially its processor. The EVs processor controls all the application layers and its faults have tendency to cause a severe road accident. To fill this gap, a quantitative reliability analysis is carried out. Firstly, the thermal behavior of the Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) drive is analyzed using Piecewise Linear Electrical Circuit Simulation (PLECS). Later, a reliability study of the motor controller is carried out to identify the most vulnerable component under various temperature stress conditions using Advanced Logistics Development (ALD) failure rate estimation tool. Further, the reliability analysis is extended by considering the processor fault at the same operating temperature stress conditions. Considering the results, this critical and quantitative investigation is expected to have a significant impact on the EV processor's future reliability and design.