This paper presents the development of a hardware simulator based on the junctiontemperature\nof insulated-gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) modules in modular multilevel converters\n(MMCs). The MMC consists of various power-electronics components, and the IGBT is the main\nfactor determining the lifetime of the MMC. The failure of IGBTs is mostly due to the junctiontemperature\nswing; thus, the thermal profile of the IGBT should be established to predict the\nlifetime. The thermal behavior depends on the current flowing to the IGBT, and the load-current\nprofile is related to the application. To establish the thermal profile of the IGBT, the proposed\nhardware simulator generates various shapes of output currents while the junction temperature is\nmeasured. Additionally, a controller design is presented for simulation of the arm current, which\nincludes a direct current component as well as an alternative current component with a fundamental\nfrequency. The validity and performance of the proposed hardware simulator and its control\nmethods are analyzed according to various experimental results.
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