Overview of Real-Time Lifetime Prediction and Extension for SiC Power Converters

• Published in: IEEE transactions on power electronics Vol. 35; no. 8; pp. 7765 - 7794
• Main Authors: Ni, Ze, Lyu, Xiaofeng, Yadav, Om Prakash, Singh, Brij N., Zheng, Sheng, Cao, Dong
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York IEEE 01.08.2020; The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
• Subjects: Accelerated lifetime test (ALT); Accelerated tests; active thermal control; ageing indicator; Analytical models; Commercialization; Condition monitoring; Electric vehicles; Electronic devices; Energy conversion efficiency; failure mode; Failure modes; lifetime control; lifetime modeling; Mechanical engineering; Monitoring; MOSFET; Power converters; Real time; Reliability; Reliability engineering; remaining useful lifetime (RUL); Service life assessment; Silicon carbide; silicon carbide (SiC) <sc xmlns:ali="http://www.niso.org/schemas/ali/1.0/" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance">mosfet; Software; Software development tools; Statistical models; Temperature measurement; Temperature sensors; temperature-sensitive electrical parameter (TSEP)
• ISSN: 0885-8993; 1941-0107
• DOI: 10.1109/TPEL.2019.2962503

Remaining useful lifetime prediction and extension of Si power devices have been studied extensively. Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices have been developed and commercialized. Specifically, SiC mosfet s have been utilized for the next generation high-voltage, high-power converters with smaller size and higher efficiency, covering various mainstream applications, including photovoltaic systems, electric vehicles, solid-state transformers, and more electric ships and airplanes. However, the SiC-based devices have different failure modes and mechanisms compared with Si counterparts. Therefore, a comprehensive review is critical to develop accurate lifetime prediction and extension strategies for SiC power converter systems. The SiC power device component-level failure modes and mechanisms are first investigated. Different accelerated lifetime tests and component-level lifetime models are then compared. Power converter system-level offline lifetime modeling techniques and software tools are further summarized. Besides, the SiC power converter condition monitoring strategies and health indicators are surveyed. The online measurement challenges are also studied. Furthermore, the system-level lifetime extension strategies are reviewed. By integrating device physics, statistical modeling, reliability engineering, and mechanical engineering with power electronics, this article is intended to provide a comprehensive overview, address existing challenges, and unfold new research opportunities regarding the SiC power converter real-time lifetime prediction and extension.