Design Tools for Power Electronics: Trends and Innovations

Uwe DROFENIK*, Didier COTTET**, Andreas MÜSING* and Johann W. KOLAR*
* Power Electronic Systems Laboratory, ETH Zurich, ETH-Zentrum / ETL H13, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
Phone: +41-1-632-4267, Fax: +41-1-632-1212, E-mail: drofenik@lem.ee.ethz.ch
** ABB Switzerland Ltd, Corporate Research, CH-5405 Baden-Dättwil, Switzerland
Abstract: Numerical simulation is a standard procedure in
the design of power electronic systems. With simulation, one
can test new concepts immediately without the need to order
components and assembling which might be time-consuming
and expensive. If something fails, there is no destruction but
information about too high voltages and/or currents. Critical
operating states just before failure can be exactly
reproduced, and currents, voltages and junction
temperatures can be easily monitored in simulation which
makes it comparably easy to identify problematic designs.
Expensive equipment for measurement, power supply and
load which is essential for testing prototypes is not needed in
a first design stage. Further advantages of simulation are the
ability to easily visualize fields, flows and distributions of
physical properties, and the ability of automated parameter
optimization and/or statistical analysis with Monte Carlo
techniques.
Due to these advantages it would be desirable to replace
designing and testing prototypes by numerical simulations as
far as possible in order to reduce development time, save
development cost and detect reliability problems.
Unfortunately, practical simulation will never fully map reality.
The power electronic system under investigation has to be
simplified in order to be able to handle the model with a
computer. Numerical simulation will always give a result, but
it is up to experience and knowledge of the design engineer
to verify the usefulness and/or accuracy of the result.
In the paper we discuss what can be numerically simulated,
what limits are given to modelling by scaling laws and what
kind of developments we might experience in the future.
Emphasis is on the numerical simulation of converter
systems.
FUL TEXT HERE:
http://www.pes.ee.ethz.ch/uploads/tx_ethpublications/4347884.pdf