Online Power Cycling Lifetime Extension for SiC ANPC Multilevel Converters

Silicon Carbide (SiC) multilevel power converters have been intensively investigated in recent years due to their advantages in efficiency, power density, and others. However, for safety critical applications such as high-power electric propulsion systems, high reliability is generally a first priority to be considered during the design process. Targeted at 3-level SiC active neutral point clamped (ANPC) converters, this paper investigates the power cycling lifetime extension with various pulse width modulation (PWM) schemes. An online extension strategy of power cycling lifetime is proposed, followed by analysis and verification in electro-thermal simulations.