Primary Objective
The primary objective is to improve the cost-efficiency of high power converter systems through increased reliability, better understanding of failure mechanisms and tools for lifetime estimation.
Secondary objectives
- Evaluate and compare thermal stress and efficiency of different state-of –the-art converter topologies.
- Development of accelerated lifetime test methods for high power, high voltage power electronics relevant for real applications. Contribution towards standardization of such tests.
- Contribute towards development of robust power electronic components with focus on obtaining stable and predictable behaviour during and after fault conditions and consequently reducing downtime of HV converters.
- Develop a lifetime model for state-of-the-art IGBT devices based on experience from existing models.
- Development of methodology for online estimation of remaining lifetime of a semiconductor device. This methodology should be able to detect abnormal operation conditions and give early warnings of failure.
- Strengthen the education of applied power electronics at NTNU on topics related to reliability of power semiconductors.