A novel method to protect IGBT module from explosion during short-circuit in traction converters

A novel method using gate overdrive is suggested to avoid explosion of IGBT modules in converters. With this method, the gate drive impedance is set to low (~0 Ω), such that the driving capability of the gate drive is not limited by the short-circuit present between the gate and auxiliary emitter terminals of a damaged IGBT. Using the implemented gate driving concept, the fault current can be redirected through good chips in the module and the current concentration in the faulty chip of the IGBT module could be reduced to avoid explosion.