Rainflow Algorithm-Based Lifetime Estimation of Power Semiconductors in Utility Applications

Author

Reddy Gopi Reddy, Lakshmi ; Tolbert, Leon M. ; Ozpineci, Burak ; Pinto, Joao O. P.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng. & Comput. Sci., Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA

Volume

51

Issue

4

fYear

2015

fDate

July-Aug. 2015

Firstpage

3368

Lastpage

3375

Abstract

Rainflow algorithms are one of the popular counting methods used in fatigue and failure analysis in conjunction with semiconductor lifetime estimation models. However, the rainflow algorithm used in power semiconductor reliability does not consider the time-dependent mean temperature calculation. The equivalent temperature calculation proposed by Nagode et al. is applied to semiconductor lifetime estimation in this paper. A month-long arc furnace load profile is used as a test profile to estimate temperatures in insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) in a STATCOM for reactive compensation of load. The degradation in the life of the IGBT power device is predicted based on time-dependent temperature calculation.

Keywords

estimation theory; failure analysis; fatigue; insulated gate bipolar transistors; life testing; power semiconductor devices; semiconductor device reliability; static VAr compensators; IGBT; STATCOM; arc furnace load profile; counting methods; failure analysis; fatigue analysis; insulated-gate bipolar transistors; load reactive compensation; power semiconductor reliability; rainflow algorithm; semiconductor lifetime estimation models; time-dependent mean temperature calculation; Estimation; Insulated gate bipolar transistors; Reactive power; Reliability; Strain; Temperature dependence; Temperature distribution; Cycle counting; STATCOM; lifetime estimation; power semiconductor reliability; rainflow algorithms;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Industry Applications, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0093-9994

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/TIA.2015.2407055

Filename

7050286