Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “traction inverter”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
DOE OSTI2023

Effects of Encapsulant Properties on the Thermo-Mechanical Reliability of Double-Side Cooled Power Modules for Traction Inverters

Double-side cooled power modules are being developed for next-generation traction inverters due to their better heat extraction, lower profile, and lower parasitic inductances. However, due to their rigid structure, they cause reliability concerns arising from high thermo-mechanical stresses at the interconnection joints in the module. In this work, a materials-based approach using rigid encapsulants is presented for reducing thermo-mechanical fatigue. Finite-element thermo- mechanical simulations were performed to examine the effects of the elastic modulus and coefficient of thermal expansion of epoxy- based encapsulants on the bond deformation inside a double-side cooled power module. It was found that a rigid encapsulant with a high modulus of 6.0 GPa or above and a coefficient of thermal expansion around 20 ppm/oC would improve the thermo- mechanical reliability of double-side cooled power modules by decreasing the permanent bond deformation inside the modules by 50-60%.

ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2020

High-Energy Density Capacitors for Electric Vehicle Traction Inverters

DC bus capacitors take up substantial space in a traction inverter, limiting the traction drive power density. Thus, several commercial capacitor technologies, under consideration for use as DC bus capacitors for electric vehicle traction inverters, were reviewed for their ability to optimize the volume of traction inverters and are evaluated in this paper. Three promising capacitor technologies--film, ceramic, and PLZT have been selected for detailed experimental characterization. Experimental results for equivalent series resistance, equivalent series inductance, and effective capacitance with respect to DC bias voltage for various operating frequencies and temperatures are presented. The results reveal the superiority of the PLZT capacitor in terms of power density, current conduction capability, and redundancy.

Chowdhury, Shajjad↗
DOE OSTI2025

Traction Inverter Integrated On-Board DC Fast Charging through Partial Power Processing

This paper introduces an innovative on-board integrated DC charging approach through partial power processing (PPP) in a traction inverter system. The proposed system, incorporating a series-connected partial power dual-active-bridge (DAB) converter, efficiently regulates the DC link voltage to achieve an optimal bus voltage for traction operation across a wide speed and torque range. Leveraging partial and bidirectional power processing, the battery current during charging is precisely regulated without the need for external DC-DC charging equipment, ensuring seamless integration to a DC hub with different voltage levels. This advanced integration also endows the system with bidirectional power exchange capability to/from the external DC hub, i.e., vehicle-to-DC (V2DC).

DAB↗
DOE OSTI2024

Double-Side Cooled 1.2kV, 300A SiC MOSFET Phase-leg Modules for 200 kW, > 100 kW/L Traction Inverters

The packaging of a double-side cooled 1.2 kV, 149 A SiC phase-leg modules has been reported in recent years for making 100 kW, 100 kW/L traction inverters. Each phase-leg module consists of two SiC MOSFETs, one per switch position. Six of the phase-leg modules are assembled into a segmented inverter configuration to meet the power and power density requirement. In this work, the layout of the phase-leg module was redesigned to include four of the SiC MOSFETs, two per switch position, with the aim of doubling the power to 200 kW and increasing the power density beyond 100 kW/L, but with only a 10.25% footprint increase. Key features of the packaging technology developed in the previous work were implemented in the current work, which include silver sintering for chip bonding and porous silver inter-posts for bonding device source pads to substrate. Parasitic extraction simulation showed that the four-chip module has a low parasitic inductance of 4.7 nH, like the two-chip module. Static characterization of the four-chip prototypes showed a low average on-resistance of 9 mΩ and a low average leakage current of 5 nA at Vds of 1.2 kV.

Zhang, Zichen↗
DOE OSTI2020

Estimation, Minimization, and Validation of Commutation Loop Inductance for a 135-kW SiC EV Traction Inverter

With growing interests in low inductance SiC based power module packaging, it is vital to focus on system level design aspects to facilitate easy integration of the modules and reap system level benefits. To effectively utilize the low inductance modules, busbar and interconnects should also be designed with low stray inductances. A wholistic investigation of the flux path and flux cancellations in the module-busbar assembly which as differentially coupled series inductors is thus mandatory for a system level design. This work presents a busbar design which can be adopted to effectively integrate the CREE’s low inductance 1.2 kV/1.7 kV SiC power modules. The paper also proposes a novel measurement technique to measure the inductance of the modulebusbar assembly as a whole rather than deducing it from individual components. The inductance of the overall commutation loop of the inverter which encompasses the SiC power module, interconnects and PCB busbar have been estimated using finite element analysis (FEA). Furthermore, insights gained from FEA provided the guidelines to decide on the placement of the decoupling capacitors in the busbar to minimize the overall commutation loop inductance from 12.8 nH to 7.4 nH which resulted in significant reduction in the device voltage overshoot. The simulation results have been validated through measurements using an impedance analyzer with less than 5% difference between extracted loop inductance from FEA and measurements. The bus bar design study and the measurement technique discussed in this paper, can be easily extended to other power module packages. Finally, the 135 kW inverter has been compared to a similar highpower inverter utilizing a laminated busbar to highlight the performance of the former.

42 ENGINEERING↗
DOE OSTI2026

High Voltage High Power Traction Inverter Thermal Management

This project develops thermal management solutions for various 530-kW inverter topologies being developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). The thermal management solutions will provide high thermal performance and be designed to keep inverter components (e.g., power modules, capacitors) within allowable operating temperatures to help meet the project objectives. Steady-state and transient thermal models of the inverter and cooling system will be created and used to predict component temperatures under various drive cycle conditions.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2025

DC-Link Capacitor Design for a Neutral-Point-Less Three-Level Dual-Phase Inverter for Traction Application

Conventional multilevel inverters, such as neutral￾point-clamped and T-type inverters, have gained popularity in electric vehicle applications due to their advantages, including high voltage range, high power capability, low switching losses, low total harmonic distortion, and low electromagnetic interference. However, these traditional multilevel inverters require a neutral point connection to generate a zero-voltage vector. The neutral point current oscillates at three times the fundamental frequency, leading to voltage imbalance and overvoltage stress on the power modules. Additionally, the use of two stacked DC-link capacitors increases the volume required for the same overall capacitance and complicates packaging due to ripple current and heat dissipation from separate components. This is a significant concern for traction drive units, where space is limited. In this paper, a neutral-point-less multilevel dual three￾phase inverter topology is investigated for traction inverter applications. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed topology effectively retains the benefits of multilevel operation while utilizing a single DC-link capacitor. The inverter model was simulated in conjunction with an industry-standard battery model to evaluate the potential for capacitor size reduction compared to a conventional three-level inverter.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗
DOE OSTI2014

Advanced Liquid Cooling for a Traction Drive Inverter Using Jet Impingement and Microfinned Enhanced Surfaces: Preprint

Jet impingement on plain and micro-finned enhanced surfaces was compared to a traditional channel flow configuration. The jets provide localized cooling to areas heated by the insulated-gate bipolar transistor and diode devices. Enhanced microfinned surfaces increase surface area and thermal performance. Using lighter materials and designing the fluid path to manage pressure losses increases overall performance while reducing weight, volume, and cost. Powering four diodes in the center power module of the inverter and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) modeling was used to characterize the baseline as well as jet-impingement-based heat exchangers. CFD modeling showed the thermal performance improvements should hold for a fully powered inverter. Increased thermal performance was observed for the jet-impingement configurations when tested at full inverter power (40 to 100 kW output power) on a dynamometer. The reliability of the jets and enhanced surfaces over time was also investigated. Experimentally, the junction-to- coolant thermal resistance was reduced by up to 12.5% for jet impingement on enhanced surfaces s compared to the baseline channel flow configuration. Base plate-to-coolant (convective) resistance was reduced by up to 37.0% for the jet-based configuration compared to the baseline, suggesting that while improvements to the cooling side reduce overall resistance, reducing the passive stack resistance may contribute to lowering overall junction-to-coolant resistance. Full inverter power testing showed reduced thermal resistance from the middle of the module baseplate to coolant of up to 16.5%. Between the improvement in thermal performance and pumping power, the coefficient of performance improved by up to 13% for the jet-based configuration.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2023

A High-Power Density Segmented Traction Drive Inverter

High power density is one of the requirements for traction drive inverters for meeting increasing demand for higher power and performance electrical vehicles (EV). This paper presents design and preliminary experimental results for a 100 kW high-power density inverter for EV traction drive applications. The inverter design was based on the segmented inverter topology that can significantly reduce the inverter DC filter capacitor and employs low-profile planar double-sided cooled SiC MOSFET-based power modules, compact mini-channel heat sinks with fin-profile optimized using genetic-algorithms, and high-ripple current capacitors. The design produced a compact inverter package with a total volume less than 1 litter, exceeding the power density goal of 100 kW/L. Experimental results are included to demonstrate the cooling and electrical performance.

Su, Gui-Jia↗
DOE OSTI2026

A Vertical GaN-Based Neutral-Pointless Three-Level Inverter for High-Performance Automotive Traction Applications

Silicon Carbide (SiC) MOSFETs have emerged as a dominant solution for electric vehicle traction inverters because of their superior power density and efficiency compared to Silicon (Si) counterparts. However, SiC devices possess inherent switching speed limitations that constrain the maximum switching frequency and hinder further power density and efficiency improvements. To address these limitations, this paper proposes a vertical Gallium Nitride (vGaN) based X-type Neutral-Pointless (NPL.X) three-level (3L) inverter for an 800V, 200 kW traction system. Integrating 700V vGaN technology within the NPL.X 3L topology enables improved drive efficiency and higher switching frequencies, resulting in enhanced power density and output power quality. To evaluate the performance benefits, this work conducts a comprehensive loss characterization of the vGaN￾based NPL.X topology, providing a direct comparison with a SiC￾based two level (2L) inverter. The results show that the proposed vGaN-based inverter achieves superior efficiency, particularly within the low-torque regions that dominate standard automotive drive cycles. The proposed vGaN-based inverter represents a critical advancement toward high-power-density and high efficiency traction drives

Halawa, Ali [Purdue Univ., West Lafayette, IN (Uni↗
DOE OSTI2021

Design of High Power Density 100 kW Surface Permanent Magnet Machine with No Heavy Rare Earth Material Using Current Source Inverter for Traction Application

Surface permanent magnet (SPM) machines are appealing candidates for traction applications because of high power density and high efficiency. Rare-earth magnets deliver high performance but raise concerns about material supply dependability, particularly if they use heavy rare-earth materials. This paper presents the design of a high-performance SPM machine without any heavy rare-earth material that is optimized specifically for a current-source inverter (CSI) traction drive. This machine is designed for a constant-power speed ratio (CPSR) of 3. A genetic algorithm has been performed to achieve a target of 50 kW/L active power density at speeds up to 20,000 rpm. Operation at a peak line-to-line voltage of 800 V can be achieved using 1200 V power devices with a safety margin. The predicted electromagnetic and rotor structural performance characteristics are presented using both analytical and finite element analysis (FEA) results.

(CPSR)↗
DOE OSTI2025

Integrated On-Board Charger for Dual Motor Based Electric Vehicle Power Train

This paper presents an integrated on-board charger for dual motor based electric vehicle (EV) power train with silicon carbide semiconductor switch-based traction inverters. The proposed charger architecture reconfigures the traction inverters to be used in the battery charging mode, thereby eliminating several high frequency switches and their accessories. The motor windings are reused as line inductors for the power factor correction (PFC) rectifier stage in the charging mode thereby reducing the requirements of magnetic components. The architectures reduce the cost, weight, and volume of the EV power train. Simulation results are presented to demonstrate the working principle of the proposed architecture.

Mukherjee, Subho [ORNL] (ORCID:0009000672297925)↗
DOE OSTI2014

Traction Drive Inverter Cooling with Submerged Liquid Jet Impingement on Microfinned Enhanced Surfaces (Presentation)

Jet impingement is one means to improve thermal management for power electronics in electric-drive traction vehicles. Jet impingement on microfin-enhanced surfaces further augments heat transfer and thermal performance. A channel flow heat exchanger from a commercial inverter was characterized as a baseline system for comparison with two new prototype designs using liquid jet impingement on plain and microfinned enhanced surfaces. The submerged jets can target areas with the highest heat flux to provide local cooling, such as areas under insulated-gate bipolar transistors and diode devices. Low power experiments, where four diodes were powered, dissipated 105 W of heat and were used to validate computational fluid dynamics modeling of the baseline and prototype designs. Experiments and modeling used typical automotive flow rates using water-ethylene glycol as a coolant (50%-50% by volume). The computational fluid dynamics model was used to predict full inverter power heat dissipation. The channel flow and jet impingement configurations were tested at full inverter power of 40 to 100 kW (output power) on a dynamometer, translating to an approximate heat dissipation of 1 to 2 kW. With jet impingement, the cold plate material is not critical for the thermal pathway. A high-temperature plastic was used that could eventually be injection molded or formed, with the jets formed from a basic aluminum plate with orifices acting as nozzles. Long-term reliability of the jet nozzles and impingement on enhanced surfaces was examined. For jet impingement on microfinned surfaces, thermal performance increased 17%. Along with a weight reduction of approximately 3 kg, the specific power (kW/kg) increased by 36%, with an increase in power density (kW/L) of 12% compared with the baseline channel flow configuration.

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION↗
DOE OSTI2019

Design and Validation of A 250-kW All-Silicon Carbide High-Density Three-Level T-Type Inverter

Our article introduces a comprehensive design and validation of a compact all-silicon carbide (SiC) 250-kW T-type traction inverter with a power density of 25 kW/l and 98.5% peak efficiency. All the operation modes and switching transitions in a T-type phase leg are analyzed to model the semiconductor power losses over a fundamental cycle. Special attention has been paid to explore the behavior and losses due to the reverse conduction of the SiC MOSFETs. Then a loss model is built based upon this analysis to calculate the device loss distribution and system efficiency, which is further used to determine the optimal switching frequency. In addition, detailed inverter system design and prototyping procedure, including the selection of SiC modules and dc-link capacitors, and the optimization of a fourlayer laminated busbar, are presented. In this article, the T-type phase leg is formed by a normal half-bridge module and a common-source module. The switching performance and losses in this configuration are different from two-level topology that only uses one SiC module. Thus, the switching performance and the associated switching energy in each switch position are characterized using a custom clamped inductive load (CIL) test setup designed for a T-type phase leg. The performance of the full power traction inverter prototype has been verified experimentally using pulse testing and continuous power testing.

32 ENERGY CONSERVATION, CONSUMPTION, AND UTILIZATI↗
DOE OSTI2021

Highly Integrated Wide Bandgap Power Module for Next Generation Plug-In Vehicles (Final Report)

Wide bandgap devices are key enablers for high power density traction inverters. A highly integrated wide bandgap (WBG) power module enables higher temperature operation, higher inverter efficiency and overall smaller die area with the same power delivery. However, it requires careful design of the power module to take advantage of all the superior material properties that silicon carbide (SiC) provides over conventional silicon (Si) Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) based design. This project developed an efficient and densely packed SiC power module for an automotive traction inverter application. Extensive study was performed to select the best performing SiC die considering a wide range of temperature variation, suitability to integrate into target packaging, robust body diode performance and overall high electrical efficiency. Multiple design ideas were explored to achieve lower stray inductance for both power loop and signal loop, uniform current distribution, compact form factor, and very high thermal performance. The final power module package includes all six inverter switches in the same module (six-pack) with die sintered at both bottom and top surfaces utilizing high performance substrate to achieve high electrical and thermal performance. Two power module variants were developed using 900 V and 1200 V devices for operating at two different high voltage levels (> 600 V HV battery). Both power modules were comprehensively characterized, and high efficiency operation of the inverter was confirmed through analysis. Finally, a complete functional inverter was built with the 1200V power modules using other essential components (HV capacitors, gate driver board, controller board, current sensor, connectors etc.) and tested using GM’s standard test procedure. There are several challenges associated with adopting WBG devices for high voltage operation. In order to assess and mitigate those challenges, GM and subrecipients of this project have conducted multiple detailed studies. This includes phase current reconstruction using integrated Rogowski coil, device junction temperature estimation using on-state gate resistance, modeling and testing the effect of high voltage and fast switching on motor insulation and bearings, partial discharge inception voltage measurement under different environmental conditions. Findings of all these studies are summarized in this report.

33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS↗