A discussion on IGBT short circuit behavior and fault protection schemes

An in-depth discussion on the behavior of insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) under different short circuit conditions is presented, and the effects of various parameters on permissible short circuit time are analyzed. The problem of providing short circuit protection in relation to the special characteristics of the most efficient IGBTs is addressed. The pros and cons of some of the existing protection circuits are discussed, and, based on the recommendations, a protection scheme is implemented to demonstrate that reliable short circuit protection of these types of IGBTs can be achieved without difficulty in a PWM motor drive invertor application