Power electronic assemblies experience continuous degradation during their service life due to thermo-mechanical stress. Automotive applications impose special requirements on power-electronic components such as long service lifetime, long product lifespan, temperature resistivity beyond 150 °C, thermo-mechanical stress due to temperature cycles, power cycling stress, high integration density (mechatronic concepts, low volume, low weight), resistivity against harsh environmental conditions, EMC proofed systems and acceptable price. One of the main challenges in designing power electron circuits for the thorough understanding of the various mechanisms that lead to degradation of the assemblies and their interaction is required for the design of reliable components. Precise electrical characterization of the power electronic circuit in combination with a given mission profile allows to determine the thermal stress that is imposed. However, special care is required when designing experiments to determine the product lifetime under the circumstances of the derived thermal stress profile. Cost and space constraints leave no room for conservative designs in the automotive environment. Profound knowledge of the aging mechanisms of the power electronic assembly leads to cost efficiency and reliability. The striving for fuel efficiency and reduced emissions leads to a growing number of electric drive systems in the automobile. Low standby power compared to belt-driven systems, and output power that can be controlled precisely according to the actual demand make electric drives highly efficient. This has given rise to the electrification of auxiliary drives like for example the steering aid, oil and water pumps and fans. More visible to the driver are start-stop systems and hybrid electric drive trains that complement the combustion engine. Efficiency of auxiliary drives becomes even more important for all electric vehicles. Because of the high cost associated with the battery, the overall energy consumption of the all-electric car has to be restricted to a minimum to keep weight, volume and cost of the battery within acceptable limits. automotive environment is to meet the reliability requirements. The reason des in the nonlinear characteristic of interacting aging mechanisms. While single degradation mechanisms can be described quantitatively with carefully designed experiments, some uncertainty remains regarding their interaction under application conditions different from the test conditions. While unnecessary safety margins impose strong penalties in form of cost, volume and weight, complementing the well-established lifetime tests with application-oriented tests seems to be advisable. Doing so, electronic emulations of sources and loads containing physics-based models can provide the actual application environment already in the early stages of development.


    Access

    Access via TIB

    Check availability in my library

    Order at Subito €


    Export, share and cite



    Design and Manufacture of Electronic Circuits for Automotive Applications

    Barnwell, P. / Associazione Tecnica dell'Automobile | British Library Conference Proceedings | 1988



    Bonded-wafer SOI smart power circuits in automotive applications

    Harendt, C. / Apel, U. / Ifström, T. et al. | Tema Archive | 1993


    Automotive ignition power integrated circuits

    Sukumar, V. / Russo, A. / Pesce, M. et al. | Tema Archive | 1993


    Spreadsheet Applications for Electronic Circuits Design

    Lofy,F.J. / Univ.of Wisconsin-Platteville,US | Automotive engineering | 1992