Abstract Insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) is one of the core components in the power electronics system, which realizes the energy conversion and management. However, industrial survey shows that the reliability of IGBT modules in high-reliability applications is not high, and the thermal fatigue failure of IGBT modules will lead to the unplanned downtime of the entire system. Lifetime evaluation of IGBT modules will help guide the scheduled maintenance of power electronic equipment and reduce economic costs. Relevant studies indicate that the failure of IGBT modules is closely related to temperature. Thus, this paper reviewed the lifetime evaluation of IGBT modules from the perspective of thermal characteristics. Following five aspects were introduced: failure mechanism of thermal fatigue, establishment and application of thermal network, thermal parameter identification and monitoring, junction temperature estimation, and analytical and physical models for lifetime predication. Finally, the challenges of existing research were summarized, and the lifetime evaluation of IGBT modules was prospected.
Zhang Jun,Zhang Li,Cheng Yu. Review of the Lifetime Evaluation for the IGBT Module[J]. Transactions of China Electrotechnical Society, 2021, 36(12): 2560-2575.
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