Presentation Summary

Types of switch Losses

Switch Losses under different operating conditions

Numerical example on switching losses Turn-on and turn-off snubbers Heat sink design Two numerical examples on heat sink design

Losses in a power electronic device

Switching losses: Losses encountered during switch-on or switch-off transients. These losses are proportional to switching frequency.

Conduction losses: Losses encountered by the device when it is ON or conducting .

Off state losses: Losses encountered by the device when it is OFF. These losses are often neglected.

Case I: Resistive load switching

R
DC

+ is vs Switch

Vbus

The switch resistance is assumed to vary between Ron and Roff (Ron 0 and Roff assuming ideal switch).

Switching Profile: Resistive load

vs , is Vbus Im Toff Ton is time t=0 t = ton t=0 t = toff vs Toff

(1) During switch on: =

0

1 1 = 6

(2) When switch is turned off: =

0

1 = 6
1

Switching Profile: Resistive load (2)

If the switch operates at frequency , the total switching loss (power loss) is given by: ( + ) = Conduction loss = ( Off state loss = (
1 6

Vbus ( + ) )2 ; =

+ 2

; = + ; =

) (1 ); 1 = 1

Assuming off state loss to be negligible, the total loss is given by Total Loss = Vbus ( + ) + (
6 1 +

)2 .

Note: & are negligible with respect to on or off .

Case II: Inductive load switching (constant current)

Relays, motors are examples of inductive loads. Inductive load is represented as follows. To simplify analysis constant current is assumed.
vs , is D off Vbus Im is D on vs

t = 0 t = ton

t = 0 t = toff

time

In practice these times may be considerable

Switching Profile: Inductive load

Switch on:

Initially the diode is carrying the full current I.

Once the switch is turned on, its resistance keeps falling at a very rapid rate and current builds up in the switch till it takes all the current away from the diode. As long as the diode conducts, the voltage across it is zero and the switch carries all the voltage.

Once the diode switches off and the switch resistance falls at a less rapid rate till it reaches zero.
Although the initial time required for the current build up is shown negligible for simplicity, in actual case it may be considerable.

Switching Profile: Inductive load (2)

Switch off: Initially the switch is carrying the full current I.

The switch resistance keeps building up at a very rapid rate till the voltage across the switch reaches Vbus.
Then the diode turns on. Subsequently the switch resistance increases at a slower rate till all the current is taken over by the diode.

Although the initial time required for the voltage build up across the switch is shown negligible for simplicity, in actual case it may be considerable.

Switching Profile: Inductive load(3)

During switch on:

During switch off:

The total switching loss is given by :

The conduction loss for MOSFET will be:

Switching Profile: Inductive load(4)

In case of IGBT/BJT, the conduction loss is given by :
The off state loss will be:

or

Therefore, total loss (neglecting off-state losses):

(MOSFET)

or
(IGBT/BJT)

Case III: RL type of load (Variable current) (Continuous Current)

R iload D
Vbus

Assumption (S is BJT): (1) Current in the load is continuous.

iload

Imax

I min TON Ts

Total power loss=

Case III: RL type of load (Variable current) (Discontinuous Current)

(2) Current in the load is discontinuous:

iload

Imax

TON Ts

Total power loss=

Example of loss calculation

Find the total loss for the circuit shown below:

D
Vbus

Im

1.

Switching loss:

Example of loss calculation (contd.)

2. Conduction loss:

3.

Off state loss: (negligible).

Therefore, the total loss (neglecting off state loss) = 12.49 W. In case, where switching losses are high we need to use snubber circuits (to reduce switching losses).

Snubber Circuit
Suppose in the earlier circuit f s 250 kHz ? What will be the switching losses? Following the earlier calculation it is
1 30 30 + ) Vbus + 50 + 60 109 250 103 = = 2 2 = 11.24W

A solution is to use a snubber circuit. Snubbers reduce overlap between switch voltage and current during switch-on and switch-off , reducing switching losses. Another solution is to use soft-switching .

Turn-on and Turn-off snubbers

vs , is
V

Turn-on snubber Turn-off snubber R D C

Switching locus changed in presence of turn-on and turn-off snubbers. Vbus Im

vs

is

time

Turn-on snubber (inductor, L) : Reduces the rate of rise of current through the switch when it is turned on. Turn-off (RCD) snubber: Takes away the energy in the turn-on snubber and the other associated lead inductances and stores it in capacitor C at turn-off. This reduces the rate of rise of voltage and voltage spikes across the switch at turn-off. At turn-on ,C discharges through the switch. The peak discharge current is limited by the resistor, R. The RC time constant controls the discharge time. The diode bypasses the resistor at turn-off. ( See Assignment problem 3.19). Note: The snubbers reduce voltage current overlap and hence switchinglosses also.

Heat Sinks
Heats sinks are required to save devices from thermal destruction. Heat sinks dissipate the losses in the form of heat taking place in a power semiconductor. Usually, the device is fixed tightly to the heat sink by means of nuts and bolts. Good thermal contact is ensured between the device and the heat sink by means of heat sink compound.

Heat sink calculation

Elements involved in a heat sink calculation (i) Source of heat (power loss) = P (ii) Final destination of heat (cooling medium usually ambient) Let the temperature of the ambient be TA C (iii) Heat that is generated at the semiconductor junction be at a temperature TJ C (iv) Temperature of the semiconductor case TC C (v) Temperature of the heat sink = TS C (vi) RJC thermal resistance between junction and case (vii) RCS thermal resistance between case and sink (viii) RSA thermal resistance between heat sink and ambient

Heat Sink design

TJ RJC P TC RCS TS RSA TA

Model (electrical equivalent of device connected to a heat sink)

From the above figure, TJ TC = RJC P (1) TC TS = RCS P (2) TS TA = RSA P (3) Adding the equations (1), (2) and (3) TJ TA = P (RJC + RCS + RSA)

Heat Sink design (2)

In most cases, TA is known. RJC - given by device manufacturer. RCS also given by the device manufacturer. RSA - depends upon heat sink, to be designed. TJ is also known (device manufacturer specifies). Units involved: P W; T - C; R - C/W. Lower RSA means bigger heat sink. Lower RSA will keep the device cooler. Forced convection by blowing air over heat sink reduces RSA.

Heat Sink Design Example I

The following data for a MOSFET is provided. TJ = 150 C; RJC = 0.8 C/W; RCS = 0.2 C/W. If TA = 50 C find a heat sink with suitable RSA if the MOSFET loss is 25 W. Solution: RSA = (TJ TA)/ P (RJC + RCS) = (150-50)/25 (0.8+0.2)=3 C/W

Heat Sink Design Example 2

D
Vbus

Im

Consider the above power circuit with current source type of load. The diode D and MOSFET M are mounted together on a heat sink. Find RSA for the heat sink to be used. Given: PD = 25 W; TJD(max) = 125 C; RJCD = 1 C/W; RCSD = 0.1 C/W PM = 40 W; TJM(max) = 140 C; RJCM= 0.5 C/W; RCSM = 0.1 C/W TA = 50 C

Solution to Example 2
TJD RJCD TJM PD PM TCD RCSD RJCM TCM RCSM TS TA

RSA

(TJD TS)/ PD = RJCD + RCSD = RJSD = 1+0.1=1.1C/W (TJM TS)/ PM = RJCM + RCSM =RJSM = 0.5+0.1=0.6 C/W (TS-TA)/(PD+PM) = RSA (3) (2)

(1)

Solution to Example 2 (contd.)

Substituting TS from (3) in (1) TJD = TA + RSA. (PD+PM) +RJSD.PD =50+ RSA *65+ 1.1*25 125 C (4) Substituting TS from (3) in (2) TJM = TA + RSA. (PD+PM) + RJSM.PM = 50+ RSA *65+ 0.6*40 140 C (5)

From equation (4) RSA 0.731 C/W From equation (5) RSA 1.015 C/W
Common sense dictates that the heat sink with the lower thermal resistance must be selected. Thus a heat sink with RSA 0.731 C/W should be chosen.