The electric vehicle market represents a $400 billion opportunity within a decade, according to market analyst IDTech’s recent report, Electric Vehicle Forecasts, Trends and Opportunities 2016-2026. The report reads, “All components are changing with supercapacitors… new types of battery, energy harvesting, power electronics, and structure powering growth in this already huge and prosperous business… Disruptive change is now the norm and Apple-like inspiration and technological innovation is at last being seen.” Enter the MicReD Power Tester 600A, the most recent example of such inspiration and innovation.
This system is specifically designed to test power electronics in electric and hybrid vehicles (EVs/HEVs) — such as IGBTs, MOSFETs, transistors, and chargers — during power cycling. Recent headlines have shown us that thermal reliability issues can cause EVs/HEVs to be recalled. The MicReD Power Tester 600A not only establishes the devices’ thermal reliability and life cycle performance, but also provides accurate data for modeling circuits for simulation. What’s more, the tester is said to deliver unmatched accuracy and scalability.
The tester is designed to be coupled with FloTHERM and FloEFD 3D CFD (computational fluid dynamics) software to provide front-loading thermal simulation of power modules. It can also be coupled with Flowmaster — a full-vehicle, thermo-fluid, system-of-system 1D CFD modeling tool — to yield extremely high levels of accuracy. This is done using T3Ster technology to input CFD material properties for automated model calibration so that the real temperature response of an EV/HEV’s dynamic power input device can be accurately simulated. The combination of software tools and tester lets users generate IGBT thermal lifetime failure estimations with very high accuracy.
The new tester provides a simple reliability testing process for life cycle estimation, with easy setup and fully automated power cycles. The embedded T3Ster “structure function” yields non-destructive “failure-in-progress” data for each IGBT. During testing, all necessary diagnostic information is recorded — from simple current/voltage/die temperature readings to “structure function” changes that point to reasons for failures in the package structure — allowing complete testing and analysis before production.
The tester runs IGBT modules through tens of thousands of cycles to provide real-time failure-in-progress data for diagnostics, significantly reducing test time and eliminating the need for post-mortem or destructive failure analysis. Based on actual data, 3D CFD simulation errors can be reduced from typically up to 20% to 0.5% for accurate thermal characterization of IGBTs and components.
A unique aspect of the tester is its scalability; up to eight testers can be chained together to allow users to power-cycle up to 128 IGBTs simultaneously in a system test. The tester delivers 48 Vdc under load, and users can test components mounted externally on the target cooling systems to maximize testing flexibility. The test system is also designed to support emerging best practices for EV/HEV power electronics testing, such as those currently being developed for the German automotive industry.
Priced at $165,000 in single quantities, the system can be ordered now with shipping scheduled for the summer of 2016.
To recognize the best of the best, Electronic Products is launching a new feature, called Product of the Month . Each month, the editors will nominate the most compelling new products and vote to determine a single winner. During the nomination process, the editors will look beyond the technical specifications of a product to evaluate technological advancements, the potential impact on target industries and applications, and the importance to electronic engineers.
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