Electro-thermal modeling of high power IGBT module short-circuits with experimental validation

A novel Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) electrothermal modeling approach involving PSpice and ANSYS/Icepak with both high accuracy and simulation speed has been presented to study short-circuit of a 1.7 kV/1 kA commercial IGBT module. The approach successfully predicts the current and temperature distribution inside the chip of power IGBT modules. The simulation result is further validated using a 6 kA/1.1 kV non-destructive tester. The experimental validation demonstrates the modeling approach's capability for reliable design of high power IGBT power modules given electrical/thermal behavior under severe conditions.