Cost-Effective Test Bench for Accelerated Thermal Cycling of Cryogenically Cooled Power Electronics

Power cryogenic electronics is an area of research that promises solutions with greater energy efficiency and power density of converters. Such results could be extremely valuable for hydrogen transport, aircraft and spacecraft. However, in order to fully compete with classical types of cooling, it is necessary to evaluate an important characteristic - reliability. The article presents a test bench for accelerated thermal cycling tests of a cryogenically cooled component. The main disadvantages and advantages of the resulting device are analyzed. Low-cost materials and equipment used in the test bench make it possible to almost completely automate the component testing process. At the same time, the described design makes it possible to obtain long-term test results by minimizing negative atmospheric influences, reducing liquid nitrogen consumption and having the same cooling capacity as the implemented cryogenic converter. This experience can form the basis for mass testing of the reliability of power cryoelectronics.