Design Automation Using Exclusion-Based Hierarchical Computation for Power Electronics Converters in Harsh Environments

Abstract

Designing power electronics converters for harsh environments is challenging due to the absence of components' performance under harsh conditions, the frequent transition and data-passing among various software, and the time-consuming and computationally heavy work flow. This paper promotes using design automation to address the aforementioned design challenges. The implementations include public-accessible component databases, automated co-action among circuit simulators and finite element simulations to perform electrical, electromagnetic and thermal co-design, and finally an exclusion-based work flow with hierarchical computation to reduce computational load. The theorized framework is exemplified on designing a real world 175 °C 1.5 kW Three-level Neutral-point-clamped dc-dc converter. A database containing the high-temperature characteristics of SiC MOSFETs and ferrites is established and shared through a web application with graphical user interface. In 310 min, the program, which includes computationally heavy 3D finite element simulation, delivers design output after evaluating the converter's electrical, electromagnetic and thermal performance under 10 million parameter sets. Finally, a 1.5 kW dc-dc converter prototype is built and tested in 175 °C ambient temperature to verify the quality of the design output.