Condition monitoring of SiC MOSFETs on LLC resonant converter
type: CreativeWork
description: Silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are widely acknowledged for low loss, fast switching and remarkable thermal conductivity compared to silicon (Si) counterparts. SiC-based power electronic converters, therefore, are optimal when operated at medium voltage to high voltage in high switching frequency applications, which results in a much higher power density than Si-based power converters. The reliability of SiC devices, however, remains a significant hindrance to their wide adoption in power electronics in transportation, industry and military applications. Real-time condition monitoring of SiC devices in SiC-based power converters addresses the reliability issues by providing an early sign of potential failure. Since one of the most consistent failure precursors of a degraded SiC MOSFET is an increase of gate leakage current, a circuitry is developed to track and estimate the on-state gate leakage current of the device during operation. To demonstrate the functionality of the proposed method, an LLC full-bridge resonant converter that operates at a medium voltage and high switching frequency was designed and used to obtain the experimental results. This converter will operate at various duty ratios, DC-link voltages, switching frequencies and output loads to show the consistency and accuracy of the proposed condition monitoring method. With proper calibration, this cost-effective method obtains an accurate gate leakage estimation which opens opportunities to perform prognostic and health monitoring of SiC devices.
abstract: Silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are widely acknowledged for low loss, fast switching and remarkable thermal conductivity compared to silicon (Si) counterparts. SiC-based power electronic converters, therefore, are optimal when operated at medium voltage to high voltage in high switching frequency applications, which results in a much higher power density than Si-based power converters. The reliability of SiC devices, however, remains a significant hindrance to their wide adoption in power electronics in transportation, industry and military applications. Real-time condition monitoring of SiC devices in SiC-based power converters addresses the reliability issues by providing an early sign of potential failure. Since one of the most consistent failure precursors of a degraded SiC MOSFET is an increase of gate leakage current, a circuitry is developed to track and estimate the on-state gate leakage current of the device during operation. To demonstrate the functionality of the proposed method, an LLC full-bridge resonant converter that operates at a medium voltage and high switching frequency was designed and used to obtain the experimental results. This converter will operate at various duty ratios, DC-link voltages, switching frequencies and output loads to show the consistency and accuracy of the proposed condition monitoring method. With proper calibration, this cost-effective method obtains an accurate gate leakage estimation which opens opportunities to perform prognostic and health monitoring of SiC devices.
author: Wang, Patrick John
language: en
keywords: Silicon Carbide, MOSFET, Reliability, Condition Monitoring, DC-DC converter, Power Electronics, Gate Driver Circuits, LLC resonant converter
date published: 2021-09-17T02:34:46Z
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:24:52Z
provider: University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/2142/110734