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Development of Parametrized FE Models with a Geometry-based Approach for Power Electronics Applications

Power electronics modules are getting compact, and their functionalities and the number of components involved are increasing at a rapid pace. Demand for high reliability from these modules has risen, as these modules are being used in the defence sector, space technologies, and automotive, where failure could result in catastrophic consequences. Testing these modules can be very time-consuming and expensive. Additionally, replicating the real-life conditions in the testing is not always achievable with the highest level of accuracy. However, these conditions can easily be replicated with precision in simulations, which is not as costly and time-consuming. Subsequently, reliance on the results obtained from the simulations has increased tremendously, and due to that growth in this sector has been very rapid. Currently, there exist various smart tools which allow users to twin the geometric as well as loading conditions digitally with precision. While both digital twins and simulations use digital models to reproduce a system's many operations, a digital twin is truly a virtual world, making it far more resourceful for research. The main distinction between a digital twin and a simulation is scale: A digital twin may perform as many meaningful simulations as necessary to explore numerous processes or conditions, whereas a simulation normally only analyzes one specific process or condition. Developing a digital twin of a system, module, or component allows users to study various failure modes, and optimize the model to eliminate these failure modes, additionally, PHM approach can be helpful with digital twins to identify the very early warning indicators of failures that can then be avoided by taking necessary actions. To develop such a digital twin, parametric CAD and FE models need to be developed and state-of-the-art industrial software tools like ANSYS SpaceClaim offers just the right features to facilitate that. For flexibility and automation at the same time Python can be used to interact with SpaceClaim programmatically. Users can record or write and execute scripts to carry out repetitive activities and deal with models and geometry using the built-in script editor. Firstly, scripts to generate a typical classical power module have been developed, in this case, an IGBT module has been taken as a demonstration, One of the most important components of an IGBT module is the bonding wires. As there are numerous variations in existence, a fully parametric bonding wire generation script has been developed in which one can render arguably every possible bonding wire variation and use them in the IGBT module. Another script has been developed to incorporate different layers involved in an IGBT, layer-by-layer geometric data required for this has been provided in an excel sheet which then gets read-in in the script. These scripts allow users to develop models, vary parameters, study the effects of those variations, and possibly optimize the models by identifying the failures. These python scripts are very short, easy to understand, and can capture arguably all the variations which the user might need to create an IGBT model. As they are built like tools in a box, other users can benefit from the deep modelling knowledge and generate a desired CAD/FE model within minutes. The modelling improvements in SpaceClaim support the democratization process for simulation and are a major step towards developing fully functional digital twins even within the early development phase of a product.

Document Details

ReferenceNWC23-0280-presentation
AuthorsKolas. K Rzepka. S Möller. H
LanguageEnglish
TypePresentation
Date 16th May 2023
OrganisationFraunhofer
RegionGlobal

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