High-power modules use substrates to house the semiconductor device and for electrical insulation. These substrates are constructed with thermally conductive dielectric material sandwiched between two metals to extract heat from semiconductor chips. Thus, the required cooling performance of a power module is linked to the substrate’s thermal performance and can vary based on the substrate technologies. In this study, five substrate technologies were evaluated for space-restricted applications: direct-bonded copper (DBC), an insulated metal substrate (IMS), a thermally annealed pyrolytic graphite (TPG)-based IMS, DBC-based double-sided cooling, and direct-bonded aluminum (DBA) where the heat sink is directly attached without thermal interface materials (TIMs). The finite element (FE) analysis results suggest that the popular DBC substrate has thermal performance better than that of the other substrates for space-constrained applications. To further improve the thermal performance, a modified DBC substrate was proposed where a copper block was added between the semiconductor and the DBC substrate to achieve heat spreading underneath the chip. The modified DBC performance was then compared with the aforementioned substrates and the results showed significant thermal performance improvement. The results were verified with experimental results where the proposed substrate showed 20% more loss handling capability compared to an identical DBC substrate.

Wireless power transfer offers safe, convenient, and efficient way of charging electric vehicles. Ongoing research is targeting wireless charging pad design optimization; designing the magnetic component is the most important part of the coupler design because the magnetic part determines the coupling factor and efficiency. Optimizing the coil layout and geometry as well as ferrite design requires finite elements analysis based modeling and simulation for minimized core losses, maximized magnetic coupling, and minimized material use for cost-effectiveness. Although parametric finite element analysis or emerging artificial intelligence methods can generate very accurate results, simulation times are extremely long. To address this issue, this study proposes a simple, effective core design called A TOpographic Mapping (ATOM). The proposed design is based on the design of magnetic core by using the magnetic flux distribution. The thickness of the core increases with increasing magnetic flux density, forming a variable thickness core design with less material and minimized core losses compared to conventional designs. A superimposing method is used to create an optimal design for a rotational magnetic field-based system. According to simulation results, the ATOM design reduces the required material volume by 13.19% and yields the lowest core loss and highest mutual inductance compared to other designs. In addition, misalignment, electromagnetic interference, and thermal performance were evaluated for the proposed design.

In spite of the high energy efficiency and environmental benefits of electric vehicles (EVs), adoption rates are increasing at a relatively slow pace, primarily because of EVs’ limited range and long charging durations. To reduce EV charging times to be comparable to refueling times of conventional vehicles, extreme fast charging (XFC) systems are required. Such charging systems would reduce drivers’ range anxiety and enable long-distance interstate travel with EVs. This substantial target in charging rates with 15–20 min of recharging times requires research and development from grid to batteries with advanced charging systems. Wireless power transfer (WPT) systems for EV charging applications are flexible, convenient, and highly efficient, and they allow automated charging. This article reviews the power electronics and winding and resonant tuning network configurations for polyphase WPT systems for high-power wireless charging applications.

Accurate drive mode classification is essential for enhancing the reliability and predictive maintenance of heavy-duty electric trucks. This study proposes a novel fuzzy logic-based framework, DriveSense, for real-time drive mode classification, addressing key challenges such as sensor noise, transitional behaviors, and computational efficiency. The proposed approach integrates a two-stage filtering pipeline, combining adaptive outlier removal and a dynamic Kalman filter to enhance data quality. A fuzzy inference system with smoothened trapezoidal membership functions is then applied to classify driving modes into standstill, constant speed, acceleration, and deceleration while mitigating the effects of noise and edge cases. Performance evaluation using real-world and simulated drive cycles demonstrates significant improvements in classification accuracy (up to 97.8%), F1-score (up to 0.97), and robustness against noise, while reducing false positives. Comparative analysis against baseline models, demonstrates DriveSense’s superior accuracy and generalizability across diverse driving patterns. The framework’s lightweight and interpretable fuzzy inference engine operates with low computational latency, ensuring compatibility with real-time embedded systems typical of heavy-duty electric trucks. Moreover, DriveSense models transitional behaviors through overlapping fuzzy sets and adaptive borderline classification logic, enabling smooth identification of subtle shifts such as rolling stops or gradual deceleration. These results highlight DriveSense’s potential to enhance predictive maintenance strategies, reduce downtime, and support scalable, fleet-wide diagnostics.

The output power of an ocean wave energy (WE) system has an intermittent and stochastic characteristic. WE output power can be transferred to the grid without sudden fluctuations when combined with a hybrid energy storage system (HESS) consisting of a battery pack and an ultracapacitor (UC) module. The study presented in this paper identifies the lowest-cost HESS sizing for WE systems by using a genetic algorithm (GA) optimization method. In this study, the system cost was reduced with the HESS cost and sizing study for ocean WE converter systems, and the battery was used effectively for a longer cycle. GA optimization has been applied in the field of HESS in ocean WE systems and has brought innovation to the literature with its optimum cost and sizing study. An optimum design model is presented considering the maximum/minimum voltage and current limits and the energy storage units’ temperature and depth of discharge parameters. The series and parallel connection calculations and the required number of battery and UC cells are given in the sizing section. The GA optimization was performed in MATLAB, and the energy storage rate for the 625-kW system and the power and energy results of the energy storage units were given as a result of the optimum cost analysis.

Electric vehicles (EVs) can provide power to the grid or buildings similar to distributed energy resources (DER) for energy balancing applications or optimizing the operation of the microgrids in harmony with the other DER assets. This paper presents the operating modes of a bidirectional wireless power transfer (WPT) system designed for a medium-duty package delivery vehicle. The WPT system designed for this study can transfer 20 kW of power across 11 inches of airgap using custom-designed double-D (DD) couplers with LCC-LCC tuning networks. The proposed system utilizes a 480 V 3-phase grid connection, a plug-in hybrid delivery truck with bidirectional WPT, and a stationary energy storage system (SESS) that can be connected to the primary-side dc link. Due to the differences in primary and secondary dc bus voltages; and considering the voltage of the SESS, asymmetric voltage gains were used in the system. Sensitivity analyses of this system with respect to these voltage levels are presented. Five different operating modes of the grid, SESS, and the EV battery are investigated with experimental results. Control algorithms are described for grid-to-vehicle (G2V) and vehicle-to-grid (V2G) operating modes. A bidirectional WPT system is operated with a power factor of 0.99 on the grid side in every operating mode. The EV battery was charged with 20.3 kW with an overall efficiency of 93.02% in the G2V operating mode. In V2G operating mode, the WPT system provided 12.82 kW of power back to the grid with an overall efficiency of 89.08%.

A three-port resonant converter with a high-frequency isolation link for hybrid unmanned/autonomous aerial vehicle (UAV/AAV) applications is analyzed in this study. The rectified engine-generator set output supplies the first input ports while the other is connected to a battery energy storage system. Input ports consist of half-bridge high-frequency inverters, whereas output port utilizes a semi-bridgeless active rectifier. This rectifier is formed by replacing rectifier low-side diodes with active switching devices. A phase-shift duty-cycle control is implemented for switching signals to regulate the power share and flow between ports. The proposed control system implemented achieves zero voltage switching (ZVS), reduces switching losses, and minimum current flow optimization ensures regulation in a wide range of output power. Compared to the existing bidirectional pulse width modulation (PWM) converters, the proposed system decreases the number of power conversion stages and provides centralized control without needing communications between the ports. The proposed control technique operating in closed-loop control achieves the power flow between ports under various load conditions. Theoretical analysis demonstrates the proposed converter’s viability and laboratory experimental validations at 500 W full power.

This study explores the design and engineering of high-speed outer rotor electric motors, focusing on addressing the unique challenges these motors face for integrated drive applications. Outer rotor motors are preferred in applications requiring high power density and compact design. They enable efficient use of space by integrating power electronics within the motor structure, a critical advantage over traditional inner rotor designs. However, the adoption of high-speed outer rotor motors introduces several technical challenges, including managing increased mechanical stresses, ensuring dynamic balance, mitigating vibrations, and the need for specialized bearings capable of supporting high operational speeds. To tackle these issues, the study proposes a novel design framework that includes two configurations: a cantilevered design and a design supported at both ends. A significant innovation within this framework is the use of a C-fiber-based sleeve around the rotor. This sleeve preloads the magnets and the rotor structure, enhancing the motor’s mechanical integrity and allowing it to operate safely at speeds up to 20,000 rpm. The study employs finite element analysis for structural and modal assessments alongside rotodynamic studies to evaluate the proposed designs. These analyses are crucial for understanding the vibrational behavior and stability of the motor under operational conditions. Based on these evaluations, the study presents specific recommendations to improve the rotodynamic performance of the motors, focusing on aspects such as balancing and vibration reduction.

Misaligned and/or variable coil airgaps cause coupling coefficient variation in wireless power transfer (WPT) systems, resulting in a decrease in the system’s transmitted power and efficiency. This paper presents sensitivity analyses of a three-phase, Y-Y connected, series-tuned WPT system in the frequency domain in terms of several different electric vehicle wireless charging off-nominal conditions (misalignments in Δx and Δy directions, change of airgap Δz, and the roll Δψ, pitch Δθ, and yaw ΔΦ angles) as specified in Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) J2954 Standard. Coil inductance matrices were obtained by measuring the self- and mutual inductances of the primary and secondary coil phase windings at variable airgap classes (from 5 cm to 30 cm) for five different charging positions as identified in SAE J2954. These 6 × 6 inductance matrices were used in sensitivity and Plexim/PLECS simulation analyses. The sensitivity of the WPT system was analyzed analytically using the input impedance and phase angle, voltage gain, current gain, quality factor, and coupling coefficient parameters of the series-tuned WPT system. The results were confirmed experimentally on a 50 kW WPT system.

Electrification of the transportation industry introduces far-reaching paradigm shifts in sustainability, energy dependency, and manufacturing sectors. The ultimate success of this transition, in part, depends on sustainable development of highly efficient, reliable, and affordable electric propulsion systems. This article provides an overview on the existing practices and future trends in magnetic design, power electronic converter, and control/safety for electric propulsion systems. Efficiency, torque density, cost, noise and vibration, and reliability are used as figures of merit in this study. Our investigation identifies the areas of research with the highest impact and the highest urgency. Although several challenges have been identified, these areas all provide great opportunities for future research in this emerging industry.

DC-bus capacitors take up substantial space in an electric vehicle (EV) traction inverter, limiting the traction drive’s volumetric power density. Film capacitors are typically used, but other capacitor technologies with higher energy densities can help reduce the overall size. In this article, several commercial capacitor technologies are considered for use as dc-bus capacitors for EV traction inverters. They are characterized, evaluated, and compared for optimized design for volume reduction. This article also proposes a novel capacitor packaging technique that utilizes symmetrically distant parallel capacitor branches from termination, which improves electrical and thermal performance compared to a traditional flat-printed circuit board-based design. The proposed design was prototyped for a 100-kW traction inverter, and then, the thermal and electrical characteristics were evaluated under various operating conditions. Results show that the proposed symmetrical design has 40% lower layout inductance and 80% lower temperature difference than a traditional package among the parallel capacitor branches.

In this paper, a broad overview of the current research trends in power-electronic innovations in cyber-physical systems (CPSs) is presented. The recent advances in semiconductor device technologies, control architectures, and communication methodologies have enabled researchers to develop integrated smart CPSs that can cater to the emerging requirements of smart grids, renewable energy, electric vehicles, trains, ships, internet of things (IoTs), etc. The topics presented in this paper include novel power-distribution architectures, protection techniques considering large renewable integration in smart grids, wireless charging in electric vehicles, simultaneous power and information transmission, multi-hop network-based coordination, power technologies for renewable energy and smart transformer, CPS reliability, transactive smart railway grid, and real-time simulation of shipboard power systems. It is anticipated that the research trends presented in this paper will provide a timely and useful overview to the power-electronics researchers with broad applications in CPSs.

In this paper, the effect of the dead-time on a single-phase wireless power transfer system is studied in detail. In practice, the dead-time is always placed between the complementary switching pulses of the inverter phase-leg. At higher operating frequencies, the dead-time issues in the resonant inverter become critical, especially as the power level increases. The detailed analysis of the dead-time on a wireless power transfer system is discussed for different operating conditions of the inverter duty-cycle and power factor. The switching characteristics of the wireless power transfer system inverter are analyzed, and the notch phenomenon that appears at the output of the inverter is also discussed. A notch equation based on the observations is derived to predict the notch occurrence during the system operation. Furthermore, the mathematical expressions are presented for different notch conditions. Subsequently, the effect of the notches on the sensitivity and the power transfer of the series-series compensated wireless power transfer system is analyzed. Finally, the approach is verified experimentally on an 8 kW wireless power transfer system prototype, and the results are compared with the theoretical analysis.

The transition to electric road transport technologies requires electric traction drive systems to offer improved performances and capabilities, such as fuel efficiency (in terms of MPGe, i.e., miles per gallon of gasoline-equivalent), extended range, and fast-charging options. The enhanced electrification and transformed mobility are translating to a demand for higher power and more efficient electric traction drive systems that lead to better fuel economy for a given battery charge. To accelerate the mass-market adoption of electrified transportation, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in collaboration with the automotive industry, has announced the technical targets for light-duty electric vehicles (EVs) for 2025. This article discusses the electric drive technology trends for passenger electric and hybrid EVs with commercially available solutions in terms of materials, electric machine and inverter designs, maximum speed, component cooling, power density, and performance. The emerging materials and technologies for power electronics and electric motors are presented, identifying the challenges and opportunities for even more aggressive designs to meet the need for next-generation EVs. Some innovative drive and motor designs with the potential to meet the DOE 2025 targets are also discussed.

Dynamic wireless charging for electric vehicles is an emerging technology to provide an alternative solution for onboard battery reduction and driving range extension. Because of their unique characteristic of very short charging times and relatively high power levels, high-power dynamic wireless charging systems (DWCSs) introduce significant challenges to grid integration. In this paper, a comprehensive study of the high-power DWCS on grid integration control and impact analysis into distribution networks is conducted. Due to the unique load profile of DWCSs with power pulsations and the inherent imbalanced situations of a distribution network, a control strategy based on direct power control is proposed for the grid interface of DWCS to enhance the load transient response and ensure the stable operation. Considering that the load profile of DWCSs closely relates to traffic volumes and the approaching vehicle speeds, a 24-h load profile is developed based on Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT) data and a stochastic model to analyze the grid impact of high-power DWCSs in a distribution network. Case studies on a modified IEEE 13-bus distribution network are presented to validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach.

Optimal heat dissipation in power modules can significantly increase their power density. Removing the generated heat is critical for capturing the benefits of advanced semiconductor materials and improving the reliability of the device operation. This study proposes a design optimization method for liquid-cooled heat sinks that use a Fourier analysis–based tool and an evolutionary optimization algorithm to optimize the heat sink geometry for specified objectives. The optimized heat sink geometry was compared with state-of-the-art solutions in the literature based on finite element analysis of different designs. The proposed methodology can develop complex geometries that outperform conventional heat sink geometries. Optimized heat sink design from the proposed method was fabricated and tested in an experimental setup under representative operating conditions. The experimental setup was also modeled in the finite element model that was used for the proposed heat sink optimization method. The experimental results show that developed finite element models can predict the thermal and flow performance of the complex design with high fidelity, and the results validate the proposed design approach.

In this study, a method for impedance characterisation of DC-link capacitors based on transient pulse analysis is proposed. The fundamentals of the concept are presented and design considerations are discussed. The functionality of the proposed approach is supported by SPICE simulation with two different commercial capacitors from different manufacturers and validated with experimental results. Experimental results for equivalent series resistance, equivalent series inductance (ESL) and capacitance estimation are presented for commercial DC-link capacitors and compared with component analyser results. The simulation and experimental results show that the proposed method is a promising candidate for capacitance and ESL estimation of capacitors in EV traction systems.

Emerging wide–bandgap (WBG) semiconductor devices like silicon carbide (SiC) metal–oxide semiconductor fieldeffect transistors (MOSFETs) and gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistors (HEMTs) can handle high power in reduced semiconductor areas better than conventional Sibased devices due to superior material properties. With increased power loss density in a WBG–based converter and reduced die size in power modules, thermal management of power devices must be optimized for high performance in SiC MOSFET and GaN HEMT based power modules. This paper presents a graphite-embedded insulated metal substrate designed for WBG power modules. Theoretical thermal performance analysis of graphite-embedded metal cores is presented, with design details for IMS with embedded graphite to replace direct-bonded copper substrate. The proposed IMS is compared with an aluminum nitride-based direct-bonded copper substrate using finite-element thermal analysis for steady-state and transient thermal performance. The solutions' thermal performances are compared under different coolant temperature and thermal loading conditions, and the proposed substrate's electrical performance is validated with static and dynamic characterization. Using graphite-embedded substrates, junction-to-case thermal resistance of SiC MOSFETs can be reduced up to 17%, and device current density can be increased 10%, regardless of the thermal management strategy used to cool the substrate. Reduced transient thermal impedance of up to 40% of dies due to increased heat capacity is validated in transient thermal simulations and experiments. The half-bridge power module's electrical performance is evaluated for on-state resistance, switching performance, and switching loss at three junction temperature conditions. The proposed substrate solution has minimal impact on conduction and switching performance of SiC MOSFETs. This paper is accompanied by three video files demonstrating temperature across DBC and IMSwTPG substrates during cool down period.

This article presents a systematic power stage design approach for a high-power density air-cooled inverter, which involves the utilization of emerging 1.7 kV silicon carbide (SiC) mosfet bare die engineering samples, heatsinks optimized with genetic algorithm, and built using three-dimensional printing technology and integrated power modules with a novel packaging structure. The developed air-cooled inverter assembly is mainly composed of the SiC mosfet phase leg modules with split high-side and low-side switch submodules, which are attached to two separate heatsinks for increased heat dissipation area and reduced thermal resistance. The heatsink is designed using a co-simulation environment with finite element analysis in COMSOL and genetic algorithm in MATLAB. The primary design procedure, including bare die device characterization, loss calculation, thermal evaluation, and power module development, is elaborated. The proposed design approach is verified and validated through experiments at each stage of development. The experimental results show that the inverter California Energy Commission efficiency is 98.4%, and a power density of 75 W/in3 is achieved with a sufficient junction temperature margin for semiconductor long-term reliability.

Heatsink design is critical for power density and reliability enhancement of power semiconductor modules. In this letter, an automated design and optimization methodology for air-cooled heatsinks are proposed based on genetic algorithm and finite element analysis. While the genetic algorithm generates a population of candidates with complex heatsink cross-section geometry in each iteration, finite element analysis is used to evaluate the fitness function of individual heatsink, i.e., junction temperature of semiconductor devices. With the rule of “survival of the fittest,” the proposed methodology eventually converges to an optimum heatsink design with the lowest device junction temperature. The optimized heatsink is fabricated through three-dimensional printing technology for thermal performance evaluation. Simulation and experimental evaluations have been conducted based on a 50-kW three-phase air-cooled inverter with the fabricated heatsinks. The comparative evaluation results show that the optimized heatsink is superior over a customized solution by 27% less in size and 6% lower in junction temperature.

Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices have been investigated extensively in the past two decades, and there are many devices commercially available now. Owing to the intrinsic material advantages of SiC over silicon (Si), SiC power devices can operate at higher voltage, higher switching frequency, and higher temperature. This paper reviews the technology progress of SiC power devices and their emerging applications. The design challenges and future trends are summarized at the end of the paper.

This paper presents a modular cascaded H-bridge multilevel photovoltaic (PV) inverter for single- or three-phase grid-connected applications. The modular cascaded multilevel topology helps to improve the efficiency and flexibility of PV systems. To realize better utilization of PV modules and maximize the solar energy extraction, a distributed maximum power point tracking control scheme is applied to both single- and three-phase multilevel inverters, which allows independent control of each dc-link voltage. For three-phase grid-connected applications, PV mismatches may introduce unbalanced supplied power, leading to unbalanced grid current. To solve this issue, a control scheme with modulation compensation is also proposed. An experimental three-phase seven-level cascaded H-bridge inverter has been built utilizing nine H-bridge modules (three modules per phase). Each H-bridge module is connected to a 185-W solar panel. Simulation and experimental results are presented to verify the feasibility of the proposed approach.

Rainflow algorithms are one of the popular counting methods used in fatigue and failure analysis in conjunction with semiconductor lifetime estimation models. However, the rainflow algorithm used in power semiconductor reliability does not consider the time-dependent mean temperature calculation. The equivalent temperature calculation proposed by Nagode et al. is applied to semiconductor lifetime estimation in this paper. A month-long arc furnace load profile is used as a test profile to estimate temperatures in insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) in a STATCOM for reactive compensation of load. The degradation in the life of the IGBT power device is predicted based on time-dependent temperature calculation.

Reliability of power converters and lifetime prediction has been a major topic of research in the last few decades, especially for traction applications. The main failures in high power semiconductors are caused by thermomechanical fatigue. Power cycling and temperature cycling are the two most common thermal acceleration tests used in assessing reliability. The objective of this paper is to study the various power cycling tests found in the literature and to develop generalized steps in planning application specific power cycling tests. A comparison of different tests based on the failures, duration, test circuits, and monitored electrical parameters is presented.

The concept of the magnetic amplifier, a common electromagnetic device in electronic applications in the past, has seldom been used in power systems. The magnetic amplifier-based power-flow controller (MAPFC), an innovative low-cost device that adopts the idea of the magnetic amplifier for power-flow control applications, is introduced in this paper. The uniqueness of MAPFC is in the use of the magnetization of the ferromagnetic core, shared by an ac and a dc winding, as the medium to control the ac winding reactance inserted in series with the transmission line to be controlled. Large power flow in the line can be regulated by the small dc input to the dc winding. A project on the R&D of an MAPFC has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Waukesha Electric Systems, Inc. since early 2012. Findings from the project are presented along with some results obtained in a laboratory environment.

This paper presents a summary of the available single-phase ac-dc topologies used for EV/PHEV, level-1 and -2 on-board charging and for providing reactive power support to the utility grid. It presents the design motives of single-phase on-board chargers in detail and makes a classification of the chargers based on their future vehicle-to-grid usage. The pros and cons of each different ac-dc topology are discussed to shed light on their suitability for reactive power support. This paper also presents and analyzes the differences between charging-only operation and capacitive reactive power operation that results in increased demand from the dc-link capacitor (more charge/discharge cycles and increased second harmonic ripple current). Moreover, battery state of charge is spared from losses during reactive power operation, but converter output power must be limited below its rated power rating to have the same stress on the dc-link capacitor.

A new approach for modulation of an 11-level cascade multilevel inverter using selective harmonic elimination is presented in this paper. The dc sources feeding the multilevel inverter are considered to be varying in time, and the switching angles are adapted to the dc source variation. This method uses genetic algorithms to obtain switching angles offline for different dc source values. Then, artificial neural networks are used to determine the switching angles that correspond to the real-time values of the dc sources for each phase. This implies that each one of the dc sources of this topology can have different values at any time, but the output fundamental voltage will stay constant and the harmonic content will still meet the specifications. The modulating switching angles are updated at each cycle of the output fundamental voltage. This paper gives details on the method in addition to simulation and experimental results.

The application of silicon carbide (SiC) devices as battery interface, motor controller, etc., in a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) will be beneficial due to their high-temperature capability, high-power density, and high efficiency. Moreover, the light weight and small volume will affect the whole powertrain system in a HEV and, thus, the performance and cost. In this paper, the performance of HEVs is analyzed using the vehicle simulation software Powertrain System Analysis Toolkit (PSAT). Power loss models of a SiC inverter based on the test results of latest SiC devices are incorporated into PSAT powertrain models in order to study the impact of SiC devices on HEVs from a system standpoint and give a direct correlation between the inverter efficiency and weight and the vehicle's fuel economy. Two types of HEVs are considered. One is the 2004 Toyota Prius HEV, and the other is a plug-in HEV (PHEV), whose powertrain architecture is the same as that of the 2004 Toyota Prius HEV. The vehicle-level benefits from the introduction of SiC devices are demonstrated by simulations. Not only the power loss in the motor controller but also those in other components in the vehicle powertrain are reduced. As a result, the system efficiency is improved, and vehicles that incorporate SiC power electronics are predicted to consume less energy and have lower emissions and improved system compactness with a simplified thermal management system. For the PHEV, the benefits are even more distinct; in particular, the size of the battery bank can be reduced for optimum design.

This work approximates the selective harmonic elimination problem using artificial neural networks (ANNs) to generate the switching angles in an 11-level full-bridge cascade inverter powered by five varying dc input sources. Each of the five full bridges of the cascade inverter was connected to a separate 195-W solar panel. The angles were chosen such that the fundamental was kept constant and the low-order harmonics were minimized or eliminated. A nondeterministic method is used to solve the system for the angles and to obtain the data set for the ANN training. The method also provides a set of acceptable solutions in the space where solutions do not exist by analytical methods. The trained ANN is a suitable tool that brings a small generalization effect on the angles' precision and is able to perform in real time (50-/60-Hz time window).

Silicon has long been the semiconductor of choice for such power electronics. But soon this ubiquitous substance will have to share the spotlight. Devices made from silicon carbide (SiC)-a faster, tougher, and more efficient alternative to straight silicon-are beginning to take off. Simple SiC diodes have already started to supplant silicon devices in some applica tions. And over the last few years, they've been joined by the first commercially available SiC transistors, enabling anew range of SiC-based power electronics. What's more, SiC wafer manufacturers have steadily reduced the defects in the material while increasing the wafer size, thus driving down the prices of SiC devices. Last year, according to estimates made by wafer maker Cree, the global market for silicon car bide devices topped US $100 million for the first time.

This paper presents a cascaded H-bridge multilevel boost inverter for electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid EV (HEV) applications implemented without the use of inductors. Currently available power inverter systems for HEVs use a dc-dc boost converter to boost the battery voltage for a traditional three-phase inverter. The present HEV traction drive inverters have low power density, are expensive, and have low efficiency because they need a bulky inductor. A cascaded H-bridge multilevel boost inverter design for EV and HEV applications implemented without the use of inductors is proposed in this paper. Traditionally, each H-bridge needs a dc power supply. The proposed design uses a standard three-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and an H-bridge in series with each inverter leg which uses a capacitor as the dc power source. A fundamental switching scheme is used to do modulation control and to produce a five-level phase voltage. Experiments show that the proposed dc-ac cascaded H-bridge multilevel boost inverter can output a boosted ac voltage without the use of inductors.

Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices are expected to have an impact on power converter efficiency, weight, volume, and reliability. Currently, only SiC Schottky diodes are commercially available at relatively low current ratings. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has collaborated with Cree and Semikron to build a Si insulated-gate bipolar transistor-SiC Schottky diode hybrid 55-kW inverter by replacing the Si p-n diodes in Semikron's automotive inverter with Cree's made-to-order higher current SiC Schottky diodes. This paper presents the developed models of these diodes for circuit simulators, shows inverter test results, and compares the results with those of a similar all-Si inverter.

This paper presents a cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter that can be implemented using only a single dc power source and capacitors. Standard cascaded multilevel inverters require n dc sources for 2n + 1 levels. Without requiring transformers, the scheme proposed here allows the use of a single dc power source (e.g., a battery or a fuel cell stack) with the remaining n-1 dc sources being capacitors, which is referred to as hybrid cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter (HCMLI) in this paper. It is shown that the inverter can simultaneously maintain the dc voltage level of the capacitors and choose a fundamental frequency switching pattern to produce a nearly sinusoidal output. HCMLI using only a single dc source for each phase is promising for high-power motor drive applications as it significantly decreases the number of required dc power supplies, provides high-quality output power due to its high number of output levels, and results in high conversion efficiency and low thermal stress as it uses a fundamental frequency switching scheme. This paper mainly discusses control of seven-level HCMLI with fundamental frequency switching control and how its modulation index range can be extended using triplen harmonic compensation.

This paper presents a reduced switching-frequency active-harmonic-elimination method (RAHEM) to eliminate any number of specific order harmonics of multilevel converters. First, resultant theory is applied to transcendental equations to eliminate low-order harmonics and to determine switching angles for a fundamental frequency-switching scheme. Next, based on the number of harmonics to be eliminated, Newton climbing method is applied to transcendental equations to eliminate high-order harmonics and to determine switching angles for the fundamental frequency-switching scheme. Third, the magnitudes and phases of the residual lower order harmonics are computed, generated, and subtracted from the original voltage waveform to eliminate these low-order harmonics. Compared to the active-harmonic-elimination method (AHEM), which generates square waves to cancel high-order harmonics, RAHEM has lower switching frequency. The simulation results show that the method can effectively eliminate all the specific harmonics, and a low total harmonic distortion (THD) near sine wave is produced. An experimental 11-level H-bridge multilevel converter with a field-programmable gate-array controller is employed to experimentally validate the method. The experimental results show that RAHEM does effectively eliminate any number of specific harmonics, and the output voltage waveform has low switching frequency and low THD.

Fuel cells are considered to be one of the most promising sources of distributed energy because of their high efficiency, low environmental impact and scalability. Unfortunately, multiple complications exist in fuel cell operation. Fuel cells cannot accept current in the reverse direction, do not perform well with ripple current, have a low output voltage that varies with age and current, respond sluggishly to step changes in load and are limited in overload capabilities. For these reasons, power converters are often necessary to boost and regulate the voltage as a means to provide a stiff applicable DC power source. Furthermore, the addition of an inverter allows for the conversion of DC power to AC for an utility interface or for the application of an AC motor. To help motivate the use of power conditioning for the fuel cell, a brief introduction of the different types, applications and typical electrical characteristics of fuel cells is presented. This is followed by an examination of the various topologies of DC-DC boost converters and inverters used for power conditioning of fuel cells. Several architectures to aggregate multiple fuel cells for high-voltage/high-power applications are also reviewed.

This paper presents a two-phase cooling method using the R134a refrigerant to dissipate the heat energy (loss) generated by power electronics (PEs), such as those associated with rectifiers, converters, and inverters for a specific application in hybrid-electric vehicles. The cooling method involves submerging PE devices in an R134a bath, which limits the junction temperature of PE devices while conserving weight and volume of the heat sink without sacrificing equipment reliability. First, experimental tests that included an extended soak for more than 850 days were performed on a submerged insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) and gate-controller card to study dielectric characteristics, deterioration effects, and heat-flux capabilities of R134a. Results from these tests illustrate that R134a has high dielectric characteristics and no deterioration of electrical components. Second, experimental tests that included a simultaneous operation with a mock automotive air-conditioner (A/C) system were performed on the same IGBT and gate-controller card. Data extrapolation from these tests determined that a typical automotive A/C system has more than sufficient cooling capacity to cool a typical 30-kW traction inverter. Last, a discussion and simulation of active cooling of the IGBT junction layer with the R134a refrigerant is given. This technique will drastically increase the forward current ratings and reliability of the PE device

In this letter, a genetic algorithm (GA) optimization technique is applied to determine the switching angles for a cascaded multilevel inverter which eliminates specified higher order harmonics while maintaining the required fundamental voltage. This technique can be applied to multilevel inverters with any number of levels. As an example, in this paper a seven-level inverter is considered, and the optimum switching angles are calculated offline to eliminate the fifth and seventh harmonics. These angles are then used in an experimental setup to validate the results.

The emergence of silicon carbide (SiC) based power semiconductor switches, with their superior features compared with silicon (Si) based switches, has resulted in substantial improvement in the performance of power electronics converter systems. These systems with SiC power devices have the qualities of being more compact, lighter, and more efficient; thus, they are ideal for high-voltage power electronics applications. In this study, commercial Si pn and SiC Schottky diodes are tested and characterized, their behavioral static and loss models are derived at different temperatures, and they are compared with respect to each other.

This article proposes an inverse segmented motor drive (SgMD) utilizing dual active neutral point clamped (ANPC) inverters. In the proposed configuration, the neutral point current and common-mode (CM) voltage is topologically canceled, achieving zero total neutral point current and CM voltage under ideal conditions. Also, the zero total neutral point current minimizes the neutral point voltage imbalance in ANPC inverters. The mechanisms behind neutral point current and CM voltage cancellation in the proposed inverse SgMD are first introduced. The modifications to the motor windings for implementing the inverse SgMD are explained, showing that a standard motor can be readily adapted for the proposed configuration. A space vector modulation (SVM) scheme tailored for the proposed topology is presented, along with a carrier-based implementation. Simulation results validate that the proposed topology can achieve zero total CM voltage and neutral point current. It is also shown that the proposed inverse SgMD can reduce neutral point voltage fluctuation by about 90% and RMS current stress in the dc-link capacitors by about 43% compared to the conventional SgMD.

This work presents a novel approach to optimizing electric vehicle motor design through the integration of Knowledge-Based Artificial Intelligence (KB-AI) and Hierarchical Fuzzy Logic. Traditional motor design processes are time-intensive, relying heavily on iterative simulations and domain-specific expertise. These processes are further complicated by the nonlinear relationships between key design parameters. The proposed framework addresses these challenges by systematically encoding expert knowledge from scientific literature into a fuzzy logic system, allowing for the efficient handling of complex design variables. The hierarchical fuzzy logic model reduces computational complexity by decomposing the nonlinear relationships into manageable rule sets while maintaining design accuracy. The proposed methodology was applied to the design of a 100 kW motor, yielding optimal values for key parameters. This resulted in a compact motor design with a volume of 2.2 liters, showcasing the framework’s ability to deliver high-performance, application-specific motor configurations.

Stacked die in power electronics refers to a packaging approach where multiple semiconductor dies are vertically integrated or “stacked” in a single package. This technique aims to reduce the loop inductance and volume of power electronic systems but increases heat extraction challenges. Such die stacking technique introduces heat loading from one die to another and additional layers in between the devices increases effective thermal resistance. With highly resistive path between junction to case the traditional cooling systems will not be adequate to keep the device temperature within manufacturers recommended limits unless the device rating is significantly reduced. To overcome the thermal challenges, a novel stack design has been proposed along with cooling system that can match the thermal performance of the traditional packaging techniques with added benefit of low power loop inductance and high density. The proposed module performance is validated with a detailed finite element simulation platform.

This paper introduces the Layout Reliability (LAREL) tool, a reliability-oriented layout design optimization tool developed to streamline power-module (PM) design under actual drive-cycle conditions. The workflow integrates electronic design automation with insimulation machine learning to enable rapid, reliability-focused design assessment. PowerSynth’s PM layout tool systematically generates diverse PM layouts, and its partial element equivalent circuit model is used to evaluate loop inductance. Layouts are then evaluated using a custom machine learning–based thermal surrogate modeling approach trained on ParaPower simulations, enabling rapid prediction of transient temperature profiles across drive cycles. Thermal-cycling behavior is extracted from the drive cycle using rainflow counting, and accumulated damage is quantified via Miner’s rule to assess the reliability of each PM design. A multiobjective optimization is used to explore the trade-off between PMs with lower inductance and longer lifetime, producing Pareto fronts for rapid design-space exploration. On industrial-scale layouts, the surrogate is about 100 times faster than ParaPower and about 1,100 times faster than transient thermal finite element analysis, while maintaining low percent errors in temperature and lifetime relative to these conventional approaches. By promoting only top-Pareto designs to high-fidelity solvers, LAREL enables early, drive-cycle-aware reliability decisions without sacrificing decision quality.

Charging Electric Vehicles (EVs) fast and safely has a crucial role in the future of the EV technology. High-power Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) helps to significantly decrease the charging time. However, when the power transfer levels increase, thermal management becomes a significant challenge. The thermal design of the WPT systems needs more consideration in the design and implementation steps. This paper presents a thermal analysis of a 100 kW high-power WPT system. The thermal performance of the proposed design was evaluated at different power levels by considering the magnetic design and loss analysis. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) of the proposed design was performed and the thermal images of the implemented system were taken to prove the simulation results. The results show that, a liquid cooling design is needed for a high-power WPT systems for the long-time continuous operations of the charging pads.

High–power density electric motor designs are a requirement in aerospace and automotive applications. Outer rotor permanent magnet motors can offer high power density but have mechanical challenges such as structural stability and rotodynamic issues. In this work, a rotodynamic study was performed for two outer rotor permanent magnet motor designs. The first design was a cantilever design in which the rotor was suspended at one end, supported by four bearings; in the second design, the rotor was simply supported by two bearings in each end. Two different finite element method–based approaches, solid rotor and beam rotor methods, were used to extract the critical speed.

Two three-phase interleaved inverters have been used in traction drive applications to reduce the current stress in a DC link capacitor bank. In such applications, either carrier-based or space vector modulation is used to select the optimum switching sequences, and the results show 50% less capacitor current than that of a single three-phase inverter. The switching state selection process for this inverter is tedious, and there has been no research to find the optimal switching state. To overcome this challenge, this research employed a simple finite set model predictive control to select the optimum switching sequence for a dual three-phase interleaved topology, called a segmented inverter. The results show that the predictive control algorithm can provide a simple solution and can reduce the current stress by 27% compared with traditional modulation techniques for the segmented inverters.

This paper presents the magnetic design of a high-frequency three-phase rotary transformer for Wound Rotor Synchronous Motors (WRSM). The traditional DC field excitation of the WRSM is highly challenging as it relies on the brushed connection. The brush/slipring-based connections need cooling, sealing and prone to wear and tear requiring regular maintenance. The proposed three-phase rotary transformer replaces the traditional brushed excitation by a high-power density polyphase wireless excitation. Furthermore, compared to a traditional single-phase rotary transformer, the proposed three-phase rotary transformer significantly enhances the power density, and reduces the eddy current losses and the output voltage ripples.

High-speed permanent magnet (PM) machines are widely used because of their high-power density and high efficiency. The high rotation speed also inevitably subjects the PMs to high centrifugal load, which might damage them due to their inherent mechanical vulnerability, such as a much lower tensile strength than the compressive strength. To robustly transfer the torque from the magnet to the shaft, the outer diameter of the laminated rotor core is larger than the inner diameter of the rotor frame to ensure tight contact while working at 20,000 rpm. Motor manufacturing requires the shrink-fit method to assemble the rotor frame and rotor core. However, after the shrink-fit assembly, unexpected local delamination and buckling are observed on the rotor core part. Utilizing finite element simulation, we study the internal stress of assembling these two parts at the provided interference. Simulation results indicate the reasons for the delamination and buckling of the rotor core part and provide suggestions for improving the assembly.

This study aims to investigate the propagation of initial cracks in electric motors and their rate of spread through the rotor structure under various operating conditions. Traction motors are subjected to high centrifugal load owing to their speed and rapid acceleration and deceleration. In the manufacturing process, some initial imperfections or cracks in the rotor components are likely to occur. Under the influence of loading, these cracks will grow, and factors such as loading frequency, material strength, and location of material voids will affect this threshold speed. In the current study, a fracture mechanics–based approach has been used to investigate the crack growth rate for a 100 kW outer rotor motor with a rated speed of 6,000 rpm and a peak speed of 20,000 rpm for an integrated drive application.

Minimizing parasitic inductance of power modules is needed to advance their electrical performance. Innovation in the past decade has driven down the inductance of SiC half-bridge power modules to around 1–2 nH by using multilayer, embedded, and hybrid structures. Further reduction becomes difficult, mainly limited by the excessive interconnects required for the planar placement of vertical conducting chips. To address this, a vertically stacked-die approach is proposed in this paper, taking advantage of the vertical conducting nature of the SiC chips. With ceramic decoupling capacitors integrated, 0.48 nH overall loop inductance is achieved and validated by experimental measurement. This paper also discusses potential approaches to further reduce the inductance.

The increasing demand for high-speed electric machines in many applications pushes the development of high-power density electric motors. Outer rotor motors, which can be designed with a larger airgap diameter than inner rotor motors for the same overall diameter and, therefore, provide higher torque, distinguish themselves in space-constrained but high torque applications. However, increasing the motor speed and diameter results in significant centrifugal loads for the outer rotor motor due to its higher airgap diameter. Additional attention must be paid at the design stage to consider the extreme situation of possible mechanical failure, such as the sudden burst of the high-speed rotating parts in the motor, and measures must be taken to prevent their damage to other system components in advance. Through the finite element dynamic impact analysis, we studied the damage caused by broken parts on the inner wall of the electric motor housing when the motor rotates at 20,000 RPM. The proposed method is expected to provide reasonable recommendations of the enclosure material and its thickness required to protect other components in the same powertrain system when the high-power density motor fails unexpectedly.

In this paper, an Artificial Intelligence-based (AI) system is proposed for an 11-level cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter (MLI) with the aims of harmonic suppression and reliability enhancement. The system consists of three seamlessly integrated Neural Networks (NNs). First, a multilayer perceptron is used to generalize the optimal switching angles for selective harmonic elimination under non-equal DC voltages. Next, an autoencoder NN estimates the voltage sensor readings to address potential drifting. Finally, a perceptron NN detects inverter faults based solely on the output voltage of the MLI. Simulation scenarios were evaluated, and the results show that the proposed system provides a comprehensive solution for the robust operation of the MLI. The proposed solution is capable of minimizing the targeted harmonics orders with minimal impact on the fundamental voltage, even when the voltage sensor drifts. Furthermore, the inverter under fault conditions was successfully identified.

This paper presents a 200 kW high power density traction drive inverter design for higher power and performance electrical vehicles applications. The design employs the segmented drive topology to reduce the DC bus capacitor, low-profile double sided cooled SiC MOSFET power modules, compact mini-channel heat sinks optimized using genetic-algorithms, and high-ripple current capacitors. The paper includes design details and experimental results for a 200 kW inverter prototype with a power density of 110 kVA/L.

The rapid increase in electric vehicle (EV) adoption demands enhancements in the efficiency and adaptability of EV supply equipment (EVSE). Traditional EVSE systems often fail to optimize power delivery to meet the variable acceptance rates of EV batteries, resulting in significant energy wastage and reduced operational efficiency. This research addresses these challenges by integrating queuing theory with modular EVSE architectures, offering a dual strategy to optimize the operation of EV charging stations. A simulation model was developed to assess various configurations of charger capacities and outlet numbers. This model aimed to identify the optimal setup that maximizes station utilization while minimizing charging times and maximizing throughput. The model focused on charger capacities ranging from 50 to 250 kW and analyzed the different capacities’ effects on charging times and the number of vehicles served. The results indicate that a charger capacity of 125 kW is optimal, striking a balance between the charging time and the number of EVs served per hour, thus achieving the highest station utilization rate. This capacity allows for servicing a significant number of EVs with moderate increases in charging times. Lower capacities, although capable of serving more vehicles, lead to longer charging times and decreased throughput efficiency. The study underscores the effectiveness of combining queuing theory with flexible, modular charging systems that can dynamically adjust to EV charging demands.

Electric Vehicle (EV) charging has been a significant barrier to the widespread use of EVs. Traditional EV charging methods depend on cables, and there are concerns about safety, accessibility, convenience, and weather. A recent development, dynamic (or in-motion) wireless charging, enables EVs to charge wirelessly by incorporating charging infrastructure into roadways, allowing EVs to charge while moving. However, the energy transferred relies heavily on vehicle speed and time spent in the charging lane. This paper proposes an innovative solution that combines dynamic wire-less charging with Variable Speed Limit (VSL) control. This dynamic traffic control strategy adjusts speed limits based on real-time traffic, weather, and incidents. This integration of dynamic wireless charging and VSL has two potential benefits. First, it can motivate driver compliance with VSL through the incentive of charging. Second, it can promote smoother traffic flow and improve traffic safety by implementing lower speed limits at certain times. To verify these benefits, microscopic traffic simulations in SUMO were conducted under different EV penetration rates and VSL compliance rates. Simulation results reveal that the proposed approach can enhance dynamic wireless charging system performance while improving traffic flow and safety.

Axial flux machines have attracted a lot of interest in the recent years as potential high torque low weight candidates for use as traction motors in electric vehicles (EV). This paper compares axial and radial flux machines for electric vehicle applications. An external rotor radial flux machine with a Halbach array surface permanent magnet rotor and concentrated windings is chosen as a baseline to compare with axial flux designs. Both axial and radial flux motors are sized to meet the EV same requirements. Multi-objective design optimization using differential evolution minimizing loss and volume is carried out for both types of machines. Hundreds of candidate designs for each type of machine are analyzed, pareto fronts are identified and compared. The potential advantages of axial flux machines are evaluated and quantified.

Efficient thermal management of power electronics systems is crucial for higher reliability. With the miniaturization of systems, high-loss-density electronics require cooling systems that can extract a large amount of heat. This study explored a liquid-jet-impingement-based direct substrate cooling system for single-sided and double-sided cooling to improve heat extraction efficiency and improve the power density by reducing the volume and mass. The cooling system was implemented for a SiC-based direct bonded copper substrate. Numerical simulations were performed to determine the effects of nozzle diameter, the number of nozzles, and nozzle array orientation on single-sided cooling and thermal performance gain over double-sided cooling. A novel manifold design was proposed that reduced the volume and mass of the manifold and still achieved the target power density. The performance of the proposed design was compared with the pin-fin-based cooling system used in the BMW I3 module, and a comparative analysis was done.

High-power density inverters require efficient and small heat dissipation systems. For liquid cooling systems, an effective heat sink design is important to enable higher heat transfer and keep the pressure drop within reasonable limits. A heat sink geometry generated from an extruded, 1D fast Fourier transform can achieve more even temperature distribution and improved heat transfer than a conventional heat sink. Building on this concept, this paper proposes a new heat sink geometry creation algorithm. Instead of one plane profile being extruded, multiple plane profiles, each created from the fast Fourier transform method, are subsequently merged by smooth surfaces along the flow direction of the heat sink. Thus, a 3D heat sink geometry is created that enables 3D coolant flow and efficient heat transfer. The volume of this design was reduced by 50% compared with pin fin heat sinks. Compared with extruded 1D fast Fourier transform heat sinks, the proposed design showed an approximately 5% device temperature reduction and a 20% pressure drop reduction.

This work presents the detailed design of an outer rotor motor and integrated drive for passenger electric vehicles. The motor uses non-heavy rare earth permanent magnets and operates at a top speed of 20,000rpm. In-slot ceramic heat exchangers are utilized for the cooling of the windings. The external rotor configuration of the motor leaves a significant amount of space in the stator bore, which is leveraged for the integration of the power electronics. A high speed external rotor motor creates a number of mechanical, thermal and assembly challenges and this work presents detailed thermal, mechanical and rotordynamics analysis.

High power density is one of the requirements for traction drive inverters for meeting increasing demand for higher power and performance electrical vehicles (EV). This paper presents design and preliminary experimental results for a 100 kW high-power density inverter for EV traction drive applications. The inverter design was based on the segmented inverter topology that can significantly reduce the inverter DC filter capacitor and employs low-profile planar double-side-cooled SiC MOSFET-based power modules, compact mini-channel heat sinks with fin-profile optimized using genetic-algorithms, and high-ripple current capacitors. The design produced a compact inverter package with a total volume less than 1 litter, exceeding the power density goal of 100 kW/L. Preliminary experimental results are included to demonstrate the cooling and electrical performance.

Wireless power transfer technology constantly involves tradeoffs among transfer distance, power and efficiency. Near-field WPT systems are ideal for high power and efficiency, while far-field WPT prevails at long distance. Pushing to longer distance of inductive wireless power transfer by increasing the coupler size will inevitably be impacted by electromagnetic radiation. This paper aims to push the boundary of near-field inductive WPT to a much longer distance by operating at a higher frequency but without incurring too much radiation effect. Both fundamental and physical coil design considerations are given according to analytical and finite element full-wave simulations, and a GaN-based power electronics system is presented. Preliminary experimental results achieved 300W output power over a 2-meter distance, with a DC-to-DC efficiency of 62%.

High-power modules use substrates to house the semiconductor device and for electrical insulation. These substrates are constructed with thermally conductive dielectric material sandwiched between two metals to extract heat from semiconductor chips. Thus, the required cooling performance of a power module is linked to the substrate’s thermal performance and can vary based on the substrate technologies. In this study, four substrate technologies were evaluated for space-restricted applications: direct-bonded copper, an insulated metal substrate, a thermally annealed pyrolytic graphite–based insulated metal substrate, and direct-bonded aluminum, where the heat sink is directly attached without thermal interface materials. The finite element results suggest that the popular direct-bonded copper substrate has better thermal performance than the rest of the substrates for space-restricted applications. Furthermore, a modified direct-bonded copper is proposed to further improve thermal performance. The evaluation results show that the modified substrate can handle 30% more losses than its traditional counterpart.

Outer rotor motors can be designed with a larger airgap diameter than inner rotor motors for the same overall diameter and therefore provide higher torque which makes them ideal for high torque space constrained applications. This advantage fits well with the increasing demand of high-speed electric machines in many applications due to their inherent high-power density. However, increasing the motor speed results in significant centrifugal loads for the outer rotor motor design. Layers of carbon fiber sleeve winding on the rotor outer surface is necessary to guarantee its structural integrity without introducing too much weight on the motor itself. In this paper, we studied the mechanical stress of a carbon fiber retaining sleeve in a surface permanent magnet outer rotor motor that spins up to 20,000 RPM. Analytical results from finite element method (FEM) confirmed that the maximum stress experienced by the carbon fiber sleeve was under the material’s yield strength. The proposed sleeve will allow this outer rotor motor to operate at high speeds.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) technology has received significant attention recently as an alternative charging method for batteries in a wide range of power levels. In the literature, many types of coil structures have been well-studied. Honeycomb coil arrays, which have been used mostly for low-power applications, have not been well-studied for high-power-level applications. In this paper, a novel honeycomb-DD coil design is proposed for high-power wireless battery charging systems. The proposed coil design with step by step design process is given and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) was performed to observe the full performance characteristics of the system for a 100 kW system. In addition, the misalignment tolerance of the proposed system was observed by shifting the secondary side charging pad at different misalignment positions, and the electromagnetic compatibility to the standards was investigated. The core and strand losses were obtained. The results show that the honeycomb coil array provides high coupling coefficient and better misalignment tolerance, making it a potential coil topology for WPT applications.

This study presents a novel bidirectional concept by using Oak Ridge Converter (ORC) for wireless energy conversion (WEC) technologies such as wireless electric vehicle (EV) chargers, wireless mobile or energy storage systems (MESS / ESS), etc. The presented system can be deployed in a bidirectional wireless power transfer (WPT) structure for different input voltages by using two different operating frequencies. The proposed concept here achieves zero voltage switching (ZVS) in during step-up and step-down configurations. The system overall theoretical design and experimental test results are presented for 50 kW power transfer in both bidirectional operations modes. The laboratory demonstration of the system is presented for the three-phase bidirectional system with 6 inches of airgap between the coils and output of 560 VDC with 95.4% dc-to-dc efficiency.

This paper proposes a wireless power transfer (WPT) platform with integrated energy conversion that has the capability for 1) recharging the energy storage systems (ESSs) from the grid systems, including renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, etc., 2) off grid systems recharging the ESSs from dc grid systems, 3) grid recharging of electric vehicles (EVs), and 4) off grid recharging of EVs from ESSs. The unique aspect of the method is the use of multi-interface power electronic converter for the grid and ESSs and EVs that can support a range of applications with ac / dc and dc / dc energy conversion ability in a single converter system. The key enabling technology to achieve these functionalities is Oak Ridge Converter (ORC) with polyphase coupler coil system both developed at ORNL. This new technology enables higher power density WPT systems while allowing the coils to interface from ac grid at 60 Hz frequency or dc source directly merging with 85 kHz operating frequency of switching component. The experimental results of the proposed system are presented for 20 kW output power with the system overall efficiency around 95.4% from dc source and 93% overall efficiency from ac grid achieving 9-10% current total harmonic distortion (THD) and 0.98-0.99 power factor (PF).

The past few years have seen organic substrates become a popular alternative to ceramics substrates for power modules. The design flexibility of organic substrates allows for a high level of integration with the cooling system and gate driver circuitry. Although organic substrates have many benefits, the intrinsic features of the thin dielectric cause thermal and common-mode (CM) current issues. This work aims to address these concerns by modeling and optimizing multi-layer organic substrates for a wirebond-less 1.7 kV SiC MOSFET power module. The geometry and layout are optimized to minimize the module's maximum temperature and high capacitive coupling to the baseplate. The simulation and optimization of multi-layer organic substrate design enable a 30 dB reduction in CM noise while achieving a maximum temperature of less than $175\ {{}^{\circ}\mathbf{C}}$.

Roadways with dynamic wireless charging systems (DWCS) enable charge-sustaining in-motion EV charging, which can reduce charging idle time while increasing range capabilities. Spatially distributed transmitter coils are controlled in response to traffic load that varies significantly minute to minute with high power levels, very short charging time, and low system utilization like wind turbine power. Traffic load estimation and localized analysis may guide effective sizing and topology adoption for feasible and scalable DWCS deployment. DWCS traffic load approximation is reviewed with measured Automated Traffic Recorder (ATR) data and statistical distributions being used to create a synthetic load analyzed using proposed metrics quantifying system utilization over time. Lumped coil section segmentation is compared between second-based distance and spatial density analysis methods, offering 17-27% greater system utilization. A peak load shifting method is proposed for traffic redirection across two tracks with optional BESS integration increasing system utilization by 50-60% depending on time-based and power reserve-based sizing and control.

In this paper, a 1 MHz single-phase Oak Ridge Converter (ORC) AC/DC wireless power transfer (WPT) system is introduced for unmanned air vehicle (UAV) charging applications. The proposed advanced solution eliminates the design, weight, volume, and the cost of the power factor correcting (PFC) front-end rectifier compared to the conventional practices. Additionally, grid power quality requirements can be achieved with the presented innovative idea. With this method, single stage WPT primary side uses the hybrid grid frequency and high frequency (60 Hz and 1 MHZ) from ac source through the coupler coils and to UAV battery with GaN FETs. Experimental results of the single-phase system is presented to confirm the mathematical analyses with the source voltage of 110 VAC, RMS and output voltage of 40 VDC at 1 kW power with 6 inches air gap between couplers. The primary coupler consists of a ferrite-backed single-turn coil with a radius of 1.5 ft, and the secondary coupler is made with an air-core single-turn coil with radius of 1.2 ft. The system overall ac to dc efficiency is measured 77 % acquiring 0.99 power factor (PF) and 3.3 % current total harmonic distortion (THD) at 1 kW power.

Ferrite cores are widely used in conventional wireless EV charging pads to reduce stray EMF emissions, but they can be brittle, heavy, and expensive. This work furthers the development of ferrite-less wireless charging pads by comparing an active and two distinct passive cancellation coil topologies as candidates to replace the ferrite. Using the software packages FEMM and MATLAB, each topology is optimized to find the best winding positions and radii to minimize leakage at a specified position under the side of the vehicle. The optimized designs are compared for shielding effectiveness, induced current, and efficiency. All three topologies are able to sufficiently reduce the leakage field below the ICNIRP limit of $27\ \mu\mathrm{T}_{\text{rms}}$ with just one turn. Interestingly, we find that an array of simple passive cancellation loops performs similar to the more widely studied passive cancellation coil.

In this paper, a novel three-phase converter is proposed for ac to dc wireless power transfer (WPT) systems for electric vehicle (EV) charging applications. The proposed innovative solution, called as Oak Ridge Converter, reduces the design complexity and cost by eliminating the front-end converter stage compared to the conventional systems. Additionally, grid side requirements can be met with the proposed creative concept. In this concept, the three-phase single-stage Oak Ridge Converter directly converts the 60 Hz grid frequency into high-frequency voltage and utilizes hybrid grid-source and high-frequency to realize power transfer from AC source through resonant network and coupling coils to the battery load. Simulation validation of the proposed three-phase system is currently being carried on and the results will be will be provided to validate the theoretical studies with the input of 277 VAC,RMS and output of 675 VDC at 35 kW power. The system current total harmonic distortion (THD) is measured 5% with a power factor (PF) of 0.98 and overall hardware development of the system that will be used for experiments is presented.

In this study, a novel three-phase Oak Ridge ac to ac converter is introduced for wireless mobility energy storage system (WMESS) applications for grid support or ancillary service applications. The proposed topology can be used in bidirectional operation between ac grid and ac terminals of energy storage (output of the ESS inverter) by accomplishing unity power factor. Inherent merit of the technology is that it can directly merge ac input 60 Hz grid frequency with the high frequency by superimposing them with the Oak Ridge Converter (ORC) and through the wireless coils. Theoretical and simulation results are provided for 10 kW output power. The functionality of the proposed three-phase system is demonstrated with the coupling coils separated by 6 inches of air gap with the input / output of 277 VAC,RMS. The system overall design is presented, and simulation results demonstrate achieving 3% current total harmonic distortion (THD) and 0.99 power factor (PF) at full load of 10 kW wireless power transfer.

The DC bus capacitor is one of the major power-density and reliability hurdles of electric drive systems. It is hard to shrink because it is constrained by the DC bus RMS ripple current, which is only load dependent. A dual-inverter based segmented drive can reduce the ripple current by ~50% compared to a non-segmented case. This paper analyzes the origin of this ripple current and points out the path for minimization. An optimal DC-ripple-energy adaptive-minimization (DREAM) modulation method is proposed to further reduce the ripple current. It is observed in experimental results that the proposed method can achieve additional 38% reduction over the traditional segmented drive system.

The dynamic wireless power transfer systems may reduce the battery size of electric vehicles while maintaining the travel range. Similar to the stationary wireless power transfer systems, the compensation networks are desired in dynamic wireless charging systems at the primary and secondary sides to reduce the reactive power requirement from the source and improve the efficiency. Consequently, it is essential to understand the behavior of the compensation networks, especially the sensitivity to misalignments. This paper presents a sensitivity analysis of LCC-S and LCC-P compensation networks for a 200-kW power transfer with variations in the coupling coefficient due to the electric vehicle travel and misalignments between the pads. The sensitivity study combines the electromagnetic finite element analysis and circuit analysis to determine the impact of misalignments on the wireless power transfer system characteristics. The theoretical analysis is verified by conducting circuit simulations at discrete points to verify the accuracy of the mathematical model.

The severity of the economic impact caused by grid outages has been the driving factor for creating innovative solutions that increases interest for the deployment of distributed energy resources to reduce the impact of grid outages. This paper presents a novel topology for providing export power applications. Proposed topology can be used for grid (primary)-side of bi-directional wireless power transfer (WPT) systems, mobile energy storage systems (ESSs), and electric vehicle (EV) batteries. The proposed concept here achieves energy transfer between sources by using a hybrid frequency bi-directional ac/dc converter without an additional front-end converter stage compared to the conventional systems. Due to inherent merit of the proposed bi-directional ac/dc converter, ac input with 60 Hz grid frequency can be directly transferred through the wireless coils and can be directly converted to the dc. Results demonstrate the performance and the functionality of the single-phase bi-directional system with the input / output of 110 Vac,rms and 200 Vdc at 1 kW power. Full paper will demonstrate the converter operation at 10 kW power level with additional features and control aspects.

In this study, a novel three phase oak ridge dc to ac converter is introduced for wireless mobility energy storage (WMES) applications to support the grid demand during peak times. The proposed topology can be used in a bi-directional operation between ac grid and dc terminals of energy storage by accomplishing unity power factor. Inherent merit of the technology can directly merge dc input to the high frequency and 60 Hz grid frequency by superimposing through the wireless coils. Theoretical and simulation results are validated by the simulation analysis for 20 kW output power. The functionality of the proposed three phase system is established by using 6 inches air gap between the couplers with the input of 675 VDC and output of 277 VAC, RMS. The system overall design analysis is demonstrated for simulation analysis and simulation results are presented achieving 3% current total harmonic distortion (THD) and 0.99 power factor (PF) at full load 20 kW wireless power transfer.

This paper proposes a control strategy for the grid interface converter in high-power dynamic wireless charging system (DWCS) to address two issues on distribution network integration. Due to the unique pulsating load profile of DWCS, load transient response capability is critical for the grid interface to maintain the dc-bus voltage stable. Besides, the inherent unbalanced situation of distribution network would lead to 2^nd-order oscillations on the dc-bus voltage, which would further affect the stable operation of the entire system. In this paper, the DWCS model is developed, and the relationship between the dc-bus voltage and the input/output power is analyzed. Based on the developed model, a control strategy based on direct power control is presented. Both simulation results and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) results demonstrate that the proposed control strategy not only improves load transient response capability, but also eliminates the 2^nd-order oscillations on the dc-bus voltage under imbalanced distribution network conditions.

Next generation solid state lighting enables unlimited control of light and serve much broader functions beyond the basic lighting for illuminance. The emerging lighting for productivity, well-being, healthcare, and growth have revolutionized the scope of lighting. To empower this unlimited controllability, a multi-channel tunable power-electronics driver is essential but has not been satisfactorily addressed so far. Existing solutions are lossy, large, and expensive, due to introduction of additional buck power conversion stages. This paper proposes a time-division multiplexing (TDM) LED driving system which eliminates those buck stages. The proposed design can directly pair with off-the-shelf pulse width modulated (PWM) controllers and since it inherits entire feature sets, it can achieve low loss at standby and at dimmed condition. The simple analog implementation avoids usage of expensive DSPs/MCU. GaN’s high switching frequency capability can push up the multiplexing frequency so a GaN-based flyback was built and proved the concept.

Dynamic wireless charging for electric vehicles is an emerging technology to reduce on-board battery size and extend driving range. Due to its unique characteristic of vehicle-speed-related pulse-like load profile, the high-power dynamic wireless charging system (DWCS) introduces high stress to the utility grid. In this paper, an optimization model for renewable energy integration in the DWCS is proposed to mitigate the grid impact and minimize the operation costs of the whole system. As the load profile of DWCS is related to the traffic volume and various approaching vehicle speeds, the annual average daily traffic data and a stochastic model are used to develop 24-hour load profile of DWCS. To find a tradeoff between grid impact mitigation and operation costs minimization, relationships among power demand from power grid, photovoltaic (PV) capacity, wind energy (WE) capacity and energy storage (ES) capacity are analyzed, and the optimization objective and constraints are developed. Numerical simulation results demonstrate that energy storage integration can greatly mitigate the grid impact of DWCS, and optimal ratio of PV and WE can significantly reduce the operation cost of DWCS.

In practice, a dead-time is always provided between the complementary switching instances of the inverter phase-leg devices. At higher operating frequencies, the dead-time issues in wireless power transfer (WPT) systems become critical, especially as the power level increases. In certain operating conditions, the dead-time effect in wireless power transfer system affects the switching characteristics. Consequently, the switching losses in the power semiconductor devices increase and also impact the efficiency of the overall system. In this paper, a simple control scheme is proposed to eliminate the dead-time effect (or voltage polarity reversal) in the WPT inverter. The proposed control scheme monitors the inverter output voltage, and the switching frequency is auto-tuned to eliminate the undesired switching instances in the inverter voltage. The proposed control scheme is validated using the closed-loop simulations in PLECS, and the experimental results on a 5.6 kW WPT prototype are also presented. After eliminating the voltage-polarity-reversal at the inverter output, the inverter losses were reduced by ∼40%, and the overall system losses were reduced by ∼17%.

This paper presents the use of feedforward control to reduce the input side DC link capacitance of series-series compensated wireless power transfer (WPT) systems. Compared to conventional control schemes for WPT systems, the proposed feedforward-based approach achieves significant reduction in the DC link capacitor without any complicated voltage or current sensing requirements from the secondary side. This results in more compact hardware architecture. The proposed method shows minimal increase in the turn-on switching loss of the inverter. The switching loss is analyzed, and detailed results are presented relating the switching loss to the DC link capacitance and voltage ripple for proper tradeoff between losses and capacitor size. Simulation and experimental results presented validate the proposed scheme.

In this paper, a novel ac to ac wireless power transfer (WPT) system is introduced for electric vehicle (EV) charging applications to reduce cost and design complexity. The presented wireless power transfer concept achieves unity power factor (UPF) on the grid-side by using a hybrid frequency ac / ac converter without an additional converter stage and closed loop control compared to the conventional systems. Due to inherent merit of the proposed ac / ac converter, ac input with 60 Hz grid frequency can be directly transferred to the load by superimposing with high frequency switching signal through the wireless coils. To validate the theoretical analysis of the proposed WPT system, the experimental results of the proposed converter are provided for 650 W output power by using 6 inches air gap between the couplers with the input of 110 VRMS ac source. The system overall efficiency is measured 89 % achieving 0.99 power factor (PF) and 1.5 % current total harmonic distortion (THD).

A high frequency AC link isolated three port semi-bridgeless resonant converter is analyzed for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications in this study. The proposed topology is established by replacing rectifier lover diodes with synchronous switches. A phase shifted pulse width modulation (PS-PWM) technique adjusts bi-directional power flow between ports. Proposed control technique provides high efficiency by reducing switching losses with zero voltage switching (ZVS) and zero current switching (ZCS) in a wide power range regulation. Compared to integrated PWM converters in a bi-directional mode, the proposed topology reduces the number of converter stages and allows centralized control at high operating frequency. Theoretical and experimental results demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed converter at a full power of 500 W in laboratory conditions.

Next generation power modules demand increased heat extraction capability along with reduced weight and volume. In this paper, thermally annealed pyrolytic graphite (TPG) is analyzed and compared with conventional materials used in power modules for thermal management. Fundamental properties of TPG are explained and compared with commonly used materials in power module heat spreaders and substrates. The encapsulated TPG based heat spreader is manufactured and compared with bulk copper in simulation and experimental based analysis. The results show that encapsulated TPG based heat spreader achieves more than 50% reduction in thermal resistance along with 48% reduction in weight in the heat spreader layer.

A method to determine the individual cell voltage in a multilevel converter through the output voltage is introduced. This technique can estimate the cell voltages without any knowledge of the controller switching sequence and can provide updated voltages within a quarter cycle. Estimates are obtained by using k-means algorithm to cluster the measured output data and determine cell voltage levels. Experimental results show that this technique can be applied in real time applications to add resiliency or reduce number of voltage sensors.

In this paper, a comparative study of the dead-time effects in a wireless power transfer (WPT) system inverter is performed for different fixed-frequency control techniques. The dead-time is provided between the complementary switching instances of the inverter phase-legs to ensure safe operation of the input power source. Under certain operating conditions, the dead-time results in waveform distortions or voltage-polarity reversal (VPR) at the inverter output. The VPR affects the switching characteristics, harmonic spectrum, switching losses, and output voltage/power of the system. A detailed analysis of the dead-time effect on the WPT system parameters such as output voltage and output power is conducted for the different fixed-frequency control strategies (i.e., traditional phase-shift control, asymmetrical clamped-mode, and asymmetrical duty-cycle control). Furthermore, the impact of dead-time on the inverter switching losses is compared for the different control strategies.

Optimal heat dissipation in power modules can significantly increase their power density. Removing the generated heat is critical for capturing the benefits of advanced semiconductor materials and improving the reliability of the device operation. This article proposes a design optimization method for liquid-cooled heat sinks that use a Fourier analysis-based tool and an evolutionary optimization algorithm to optimize the heat sink geometry for specified objectives. The optimized heat sink geometry is then compared with state-of-the-art solutions in literature based on finite element analysis of different designs. The proposed methodology can develop complex geometries that outperform the conventional heat sink geometries.

The detection of electric vehicles in dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) systems is important to reduce the standby losses and comply with the electromagnetic-field emission guidelines recommended by the International Commission for Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection. This paper discusses a novel sensorless coil detection scheme, which exploits the phenomenon of voltage-polarity reversal/notches caused by the dead-time effect in the full-bridge inverter. The variations in the system impedance and dead-time effects are collectively exploited to detect the receiver coil in the DWPT system. The proposed coil detection scheme is accomplished at low excitation voltage, which reduces the inverter standby losses. The theoretical analysis of the notch occurrence and open-loop simulation results are presented using a DWPT model developed in the piecewise linear electrical circuit simulation software.

This paper presents a double-output resonant converter with high-frequency isolation for unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) applications. The proposed topology is developed by using a full-bridge resonant inverter and double-output half-bridge active rectifiers. For the control system, a phase-shifted pulse width modulation (PS-PWM) method is utilized to adjusts the power flow among the output rectifiers in a wide voltage range regulation with a central control. The theoretical analysis of the converter is explored using the system model under different load conditions with constant frequency. The proposed system is validated with experimental results using 60 V input source and generating 0 - 100 V in each output at a full power of 500 W with 96% maximum efficiency in the laboratory experimental setup.

In this paper, analysis and optimization of a multi-layer organic substrate for high current GaN HEMT based power module are discussed. The organic multi-layer substrates can provide high electrical performance in terms of low parasitic inductance in the power loop by providing vertical layout, and shielding for reduction of common-mode noise, a common problem in fast switching power converters. Furthermore, high performance cooling solutions, such as micro-channel heat sinks, can be directly bonded to the substrate for optimum thermal management. The structure of the proposed architecture, thermal analysis and optimization of layer thickness, thermo-mechanical stress analysis of the GaN HEMT and development of a high-performance heat sink are discussed.

The output power of a wireless power transfer (WPT) system varies with load and coupling factor of the inductively coupled coils. This paper presents a method to control the output power of primary side LCC and secondary side series tuned WPT system using information of primary side variables. In this approach, a secondary side control system or secondary side sensors are not needed. Detailed mathematical derivations are given to identify and justify the suitable primary side variable that accomplishes the desired purpose without the need of any secondary side communications. Simulation results presented validate the proposed scheme.

This paper presents the electrical characterization and drive cycle-based thermal analysis of an insulated metal substrate (IMS)-based silicon carbide power module for high-power traction inverters. The substrate was constructed using a thin layer of polymer-ceramic blend dielectric material with a thick copper core to improve transient thermal performance. The cooling performance of this module has already been validated with promising results. In this paper, an experimental test bed was set up to evaluate the dynamic and static electrical performance of the designed module under a wide range of operating conditions. The characterization results were then used to develop a drive cycle-based thermal model to validate the performance compared to the traditional direct bonded copper- based power module. The results indicate that the IMS-based power module is a suitable solution for high-power traction applications.

DC bus capacitors take up substantial space in a traction inverter, limiting the traction drive power density. Thus, several commercial capacitor technologies, under consideration for use as DC bus capacitors for electric vehicle traction inverters, were reviewed for their ability to optimize the volume of traction inverters and are evaluated in this paper. Three promising capacitor technologies-film, ceramic, and PLZT have been selected for detailed experimental characterization. Experimental results for equivalent series resistance, equivalent series inductance, and effective capacitance with respect to DC bias voltage for various operating frequencies and temperatures are presented. The results reveal the superiority of the PLZT capacitor in terms of power density, current conduction capability, and redundancy.

Wireless power transfer (WPT) systems for Electric Vehicles (EVs) are designed to meet specifications such as stray field, power transfer, efficiency, and ground clearance. Typical design approaches include iterative analysis of predetermined coil geometries to identify candidates that meet these constraints. This work instead directly generates WPT coil shapes and magnetic fields to meet specifications and constraints through the optimization of Fourier basis function coefficients. The proposed Fourier Analysis Method (FAM) applies to arbitrary planar coil geometries and does not rely on iterative finite-element analysis (FEA) simulations. This flexibility allows for rapid design evaluation across a larger range of coil geometries and design specifications. A prototype coil is built to compare FAM outputs to experimental measurements and FEA simulations. The FAM is then used to illustrate the tradeoff of coil current and stray field for a given power level showing that the method is capable of generating optimized coil shapes to meet arbitrary field constraints.

In this paper, the effect of dead-time in a single phase wireless power transfer system (WPT) between the complementary switching pulses of the inverter leg is discussed in detail. The dead-time is always provided between the complementary switching pulses in the inverter leg to avoid the short-circuit of the input dc source. In WPT systems, high-frequency (HF) operation is desired to reduce the size of the passive components. As the frequency of operation increases, the dead-time effect becomes significant and must be addressed appropriately. This paper presents the analysis of the dead-time effect in the wireless power transfer system for an electric vehicle (EV) battery charging application. The operating waveforms for the given operating condition of the phase-shift angle and the power-factor are presented and the phenomenon of voltage polarity reversal (VPR) or notch is discussed. The effect of the notch on the fundamental component of the voltage is presented and the effect of the notch on the BMW i3 battery charging profile is evaluated. The theoretical analysis of the dead-time is verified using simulation results in PLECS.

The electric traction drive is the main consumer of the stored energy in an electric vehicle. Therefore, the drive system must perform with high efficiency to maximize the vehicle range for given battery capacity. Since the introduction of hybrid electric vehicles, various innovative traction drive technologies have been implemented in commercially available electric vehicles to increase efficiency and power density. It is expected that the power density and performance of the traction drive unit must improve significantly for future electric vehicles to increase the user space in the vehicle, extend the range and increase market adoption. US Department of Energy (DOE)has recently announced technical targets for light duty electric vehicles. DOE targets to reach a power density target of 33 kW/L for a 100 kW traction drive system by 2025. It is an increment by a factor of 5.5 in comparison to the state-of-the-art. This paper investigates the current trends in commercially available electric drives for light-duty automotive applications, identifies the challenges, and discusses innovative technologies to overcome the power density barrier.

Potential issues of front-end converters of wireless power transfer system modules for extreme fast charging are discussed and analyzed in this study in order to provide some recommendations to defend against attacks on electric vehicles and charging systems. Compared to conventional low-power charging systems, the impact of a cyber-attack might be more detrimental in high-power / fast charging systems since the fault energy levels would be inherently higher both on the grid- and vehicle- side converters. In order to analyze the potential issues that might be a result of cyber-attacks, the negative scenarios are reviewed in this study which include interfering with the grid-side controllers, establishing fake communications between the vehicles and the charging stations, and interfering with the battery management system functionalities. A 100-kW stationary wireless power transfer system with a series-series resonant compensation network is used as a representative system in the analysis. Potential damages and the fault energy levels for selected fault scenarios are investigated. The system is simulated to verify the analysis results. On the basis of the discussed worst-case study, a set of hardware design-level solutions are recommended in this study to provide cyber protection.

Dynamic wireless power transfer (DWPT) has been proposed as a solution to power electric vehicles (EVs)on future electrified highways. However, there has been little consideration of how the coordination of electric connected and automated vehicles (CAVs) could impact DWPT system designs in future scenarios. In this paper, a DWPT system design is optimized for a future highway where CAVs travel in coordinated groups, with each CAV in the group powered by the same DWPT section. As the distribution of smaller light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and larger heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) in each group is varied, the DWPT system power level, transmitter length, and the equivalent receiver loads are adjusted to minimize the infrastructure requirements and energy losses of the DWPT system. The outputs from this analysis are used to determine the optimal groupings of vehicles for a given DWPT system. The analysis suggests that CAV coordination could aid the deployment of DWPT systems and reduce the overall infrastructure and energy losses of DWPT systems.

Automated vehicles require sensors and computer processing that can perceive the surrounding environment and make real time decisions. These additional electrical loads expand the auxiliary load profile, therefore reducing the range of an automated electric vehicle compared to a standard electric vehicle. Furthermore, a fully automated vehicle must be fail-safe from sensor to vehicle control, thus demanding additional electrical loads due to redundancies in hardware throughout the vehicle. This paper presents a review of the sensors needed to make a vehicle automated, the power required for these additional auxiliary loads, and the necessary electrical architectures for increasing levels of robustness.

Inductive power transfer has been proposed as a solution to power future automated and electrified highways. In this study, an interoperable wireless charging system is sized so that a light and a heavy-duty vehicle can travel at or near charge-sustaining mode at high speeds using an optimization approach. The conflicting objectives of minimizing the power ratings and the number of inverters, coupler materials, and overall system coverages result in a Pareto Front that is presented in this paper. It is found that a system using short transmitting couplers can ensure high efficiency power transfers to light-duty vehicles (LDVs) and still maintain charge-sustaining operation of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs). The findings are contextualized by a brief discussion of other aspects relating to the implementation of this technology on roadways such as the impact of the cost of time and travel speeds.

Emerging wide-bandgap based power semiconductor devices are gaining popularity in power electronic systems for automotive applications with the aim of increased power density, reduced weight and increased efficiency. In this work, loss analysis and mapping of a segmented two-level inverter based on SiC MOSFETs are presented in order to identify the challenges in design of power electronics and electric machines for EV applications. The paper starts with description of the EV traction system that is chosen as the study case, followed by segmented inverter topology, power device selection and sizing. The theoretical switching, conduction and dead-time conduction loss analysis for the SiC MOSFETs in the segmented two-level inverter topology are presented under any given operating condition. The analysis is followed by loss mapping of the motor, inverter and overall EV traction system. The loss maps of the inverter and the motor show that each component has different thermal loading trends under given torque-speed characteristics. Therefore, various operating conditions have to be considered for the design of traction system components to ensure reliability and high performance, which are critical requirements for EV systems.

Wide bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor devices, specifically silicon carbide (SiC) metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) have gained attention from electric vehicle (EV) system developers due to well-known superior properties in comparison to industry standard silicon (Si) based MOSFETs and insulated-gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs). In this work, a power module design based on SiC MOSFETs in a segmented two-level, three-phase inverter topology with 125 kW peak output power and 30 kHz switching frequency is presented. Three different SiC MOSFET die options are analyzed according to experimentally obtained operating conditions of a commercial EV traction system. Substrate design of the power module for multi-die layout, heat sink design, and integration of a segmented phase leg module are presented. Finite-element electrical and thermal analysis of the proposed system are presented and discussed.

This paper focuses on understanding the thermal impacts of using discrete power devices and limitations of applying conventional thermal design methods. Empirically, a thermal system is designed based on selecting a heat sink with the required thermal resistance from the manufacturer datasheet. This method, as an approximate estimation, has been proven effective as a rough design of Si-based power module. However, wide bandgap (WBG) bare dies bring additional thermal design concerns that have been overlooked. The benefits of WBG devices, such as smaller chip sizes and higher power ratings, on the other hand, lead to thermal concentration issues. Detailed analyses and impacts of the thermal concentration are presented in this paper. A more accurate model involving Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Genetic Algorithm optimization is also proposed for a more accurate thermal design.

The traditional heatsink design technologies for forced air-cooling and power semiconductors with low junction temperatures have constrained the converters to be designed with massive heatsinks. The low power losses of WBG device technology and higher junction temperature operation over a wide operating range of power have not been fully utilized with liquid-cooled systems. The other major limitation has also been the traditional power module packaging “stack” approach with baseplate. This paper presents a novel power stage design which involves 1.7 kV silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs, a heatsink design with Genetic Algorithm (GA) and built using 3D printing technology, and a novel integrated modular power module for high power density. The air-cooled module assembly has a SiC MOSFET phase leg module with split high-side and low-side switches and a gate driver with cross-talk and short circuit protection functions. The heatsink design was modeled using a co-simulation environment with finite element analysis software and GA in MATLAB and COMSOL. The proposed concepts were verified and validated through experiments at each stage of development. The power stage was evaluated at 800V, 900 V, and 1kV for 20 kHz switching frequency and 50-kW load. The experimental results show that the CEC efficiency is 98.4 %. In addition to the efficiency, a power density of 75 W/in3 was also achieved.

Conventional drives for switched reluctance motors (SRMs) consists in supplying DC current pulses sequentially in each stator phase according to rotor position. This square current excitation produces a pulsating torque that limits the SRM applications. This paper aims to improve the torque profile of a 8/6 SRM applying an optimized current excitation obtained using the Field Reconstruction Method (FRM). First, the SRM is modeled in a Finite Element (FE) software as a FRM requirement and further the FRM model replaces the FE model in a interactive optimization routine. Simulation results shown that shaping the excitation current appropriately, the torque ripple can be reduced in approximately 80%.

In this paper, the effects of the resonant network characteristic and control variables on the dc-link capacitor of a wireless charger are investigated for electric vehicles, by deriving an analytical expression for the capacitance in terms of the resonant network parameters and system control variables. With this equation, the minimum dc-link capacitance needed can be obtained to keep the dc-link voltage ripple within a desired limit for a wide load range. A comparison between the conventional series-primary resonant networks in terms of the dc-link capacitance needs is presented as well as simulation results to validate the derived equation.

Enhancing power density and reliability of power electronics is extremely important in power electronics applications. One of the key challenges in the design process is to design the optimum heat sink. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed to design air-cooled heat sinks using genetic algorithm (GA) and finite element analysis (FEA) simulations. While the GA generates a population of candidate heat sinks in each iteration, FEA simulations are used to evaluate the fitness function of each. The fitness function considered in this paper is the maximum junction temperature of the semiconductor devices. With an approach that prefers “survival of the fittest”, a heat sink providing better performance than the conventional heat sinks is obtained. The simulation and experimental evaluations of the optimized air-cooled heat sink are also included in the paper.

Transmission line inspection becomes increasingly more important as power system infrastructure ages because proactively identifying line maintenance needs is crucial for minimizing outages. Utilizing robots to conduct such inspections is both safer for humans and less costly in terms of labor, but finding an appropriate on-line robot design presents its own set of challenges. This paper proposes a touch-free transmission line inspection system in which an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) conducts all inspection activities and, while doing so, charges from the line via inductive power transmission. Two coil designs are presented and tested for this charging application - one with an air core and one with a line-enclosing core clamp. Finally, the benefits and challenges associated with each design are discussed, along with the general practicality of inductive charging via transmission lines for UAV applications.

In this paper, a genetic algorithm- (GA-) based approach is discussed for designing heat sinks based on total heat generation and dissipation for a pre-specified size and shape. This approach combines random iteration processes and genetic algorithms with finite element analysis (FEA) to design the optimized heat sink. With an approach that prefers “survival of the fittest”, a more powerful heat sink can be designed which can cool power electronics more efficiently. Some of the resulting designs can only be 3D printed due to their complexity. In addition to describing the methodology, this paper also includes comparisons of different cases to evaluate the performance of the newly designed heat sink compared to commercially available heat sinks.

The thermal response of a liquid-cooled, 3D-printed aluminum heat sink is compared to that for a conventionally-manufactured aluminum 6061 heat sink of identical geometry. Differences in thermal response were observed; however, the employed 3D-printed aluminum composition could be annealed to produce equivalent thermal characteristics to that of Al 6061. The achievement of that thermal equivalency indicates that the attractive attributes of 3D-printing can be exploited for heat exchangers with a simple and additional processing step.

Dynamic wireless charging is a possible cure for the range limitations seen in electric vehicles (EVs) once implemented in highways or city streets. The contribution of this paper is the use of experimental data to show that the expected energy gain from a dynamic wireless power transfer (WPT) system is largely a function of average speed, which allows the power level and number of coils per mile of a dynamic WPT system to be sized for the sustained operation of an EV. First, data from dynamometer testing is used to determine the instantaneous energy requirements of a light-duty EV. Then, experimental data is applied to determine the theoretical energy gained by passing over a coil as a function of velocity and power level. Related simulations are performed to explore possible methods of placing WPT coils within roadways with comparisons to the constant velocity case. Analyses with these cases demonstrate what system ratings are needed to meet the energy requirements of the EV and what effect longitudinal alignment has on WPT. The simulations are also used to determine onboard energy storage requirements for each driving cycle.

Rainflow algorithms are one of the best counting methods used in fatigue and failure analysis popularly used in semiconductor lifetime estimation models. However, the rainflow algorithm used in power semiconductor reliability does not consider the time dependent mean temperature calculation. The equivalent temperature calculation proposed by Nagode et al is applied to semiconductor lifetime estimation for the first time in this paper. A month long arc furnace load profile is used as a test profile to estimate temperatures in IGBT in a STATCOM for reactive compensation of load. The degradation in the life of the IGBT power device is predicted based on time dependent temperature calculation.

Lifetime estimation of power semiconductors for various applications has gained technical importance. The main failures in high power semiconductors are caused by thermo-mechanical fatigue, mainly in solder and wirebonds, due to different coefficients of thermal expansions of the various packaging materials. Most of the lifetime models do not take all the operating parameters into account. There is a need to develop a generalized lifetime model specific to failure mechanisms that account for all of the operating parameters in an application. This paper presents finite element based stress simulations for varying operating parameters (current, temperature, etc.) for a fixed dimension wire.

Normally-off GaN-on-Si heterojunction field-effect transistors (HFETs) have been developed with up to 650 V blocking capability, fast switching, and low conduction losses in commercial devices. The natively depletion-mode device can be modified to be normally-off using a variety of techniques. For a power electronics engineer accustomed to Si-based converter design, there is inherent benefit to understanding the unique characteristics and challenges that distinguish GaN HFETs from Si MOSFETs. Dynamic Rds-on self-commutated reverse conduction, gate voltage and current requirements, and the effects of very fast switching are explained from an applications perspective. This paper reviews available literature on commercial and near-commercial GaN HFETs, to prepare engineers with Si-based power electronics experience to effectively design GaN-based converters.

The study of the saturable-core reactor (SCR) can be traced back to 1900's. Although commonly used in electronic circuit applications, SCR has seldom been used in power system applications. In recent years, power engineers have raised interest in exploring applications of SCR in power systems. The SCR is low-cost and durable. Its nature of using the magnetic field as control medium makes it more familiar and, perhaps, more easily accepted by power utilities. In this paper, the basic concept of SCR and some existing or potential applications of SCR in power systems are introduced. A project on the R&D of a SCR-based power flow controller has been funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and conducted by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, and Waukesha Electric Systems, Inc. since early 2012. Some technical details of the project are presented and some preliminary results are highlighted.

With efforts to reduce the cost, size, and thermal management systems for the power electronics drivetrain in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), wide band gap semiconductors including silicon carbide (SiC) have been identified as possibly being a partial solution. This paper focuses on the development of a 10-kW all SiC inverter using a high power density, integrated printed metal power module with integrated cooling using additive manufacturing techniques. This is the first ever heat sink printed for a power electronics application. About 50% of the inverter was built using additive manufacturing techniques.

A three-phase modular cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter for a grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) system is presented in this paper. To maximize the solar energy extraction of each PV string, an individual maximum power point tracking (MPPT) control scheme is applied, which allows the independent control of each dc-link voltage. PV mismatches may introduce unbalanced power supplied to the three-phase system. To solve this issue, a control scheme with modulation compensation is proposed. The three-phase modular cascaded multilevel inverter prototype has been built. Each H-bridge is connected to a 185 W solar panel. Simulation and experimental results are presented to validate the proposed ideas.

Ac-ac matrix converters and cycloconverters require bi-directional switches, which are typically formed by two antiparallel thyristors or a two-switch (IGBT/MOSFETs) two-diode configuration. As silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) devices become more available, it is possible to have higher voltage FETs with low conduction and switching losses and reverse conduction capability, which allows the elimination of the diodes in a bidirectional switch. This paper will investigate a bidirectional switch formation that is formed by using two normally-on SiC JFETs in anti-series with no anti-parallel diodes.

With smart grid integration, there is a need to characterize reliability of a power system by including reliability of power semiconductors in grid related applications. In this paper, the reliability of IGBTs in a STATCOM application is presented for two different applications, power factor correction and harmonic elimination. The STATCOM model is developed in EMTP, and analytical equations for average conduction losses in an IGBT and a diode are derived and compared with experimental data. A commonly used reliability model is used to predict reliability of IGBT.

Rainflow algorithms are one of the best counting methods used in fatigue and failure analysis [17]. There have been many approaches to the rainflow algorithm, some proposing modifications. Graphical Rainflow Method (GRM) was proposed recently with a claim of faster execution times [10]. However, the steps of the graphical method of rainflow algorithm, when implemented, do not generate the same output as the four-point or ASTM standard algorithm. A modified graphical method is presented and discussed in this paper to overcome the shortcomings of graphical rainflow algorithm. A fast rainflow algorithm based on four-point algorithm but considering point comparison than range comparison is also presented. A comparison between the performances of the common rainflow algorithms [6-10], including the proposed methods, in terms of execution time, memory used, and efficiency, complexity, and load sequences is presented. Finally, the rainflow algorithm is applied to temperature data of an IGBT in assessing the lifetime of a STATCOM operating for power factor correction of the load. From 5-minute data load profiles available, the lifetime is estimated to be at 3.4 years.

The work developed here proposes a methodology for calculating switching angles for varying DC sources in a multilevel cascaded H-bridges converter. In this approach the required fundamental is achieved, the lower harmonics are minimized, and the system can be implemented in real time with low memory requirements. Genetic algorithm (GA) is the stochastic search method to find the solution for the set of equations where the input voltages are the known variables and the switching angles are the unknown variables. With the dataset generated by GA, an artificial neural network (ANN) is trained to store the solutions without excessive memory storage requirements. This trained ANN then senses the voltage of each cell and produces the switching angles in order to regulate the fundamental at 120 V and eliminate or minimize the low order harmonics while operating in real time.

Wireless power transfer has been a popular topic of recent research. Most research has been done to address the limitations of coil-to-coil efficiency. However, little has been done to address the problem associated with the low input power factor with which the systems operate. This paper details the steps taken to analyze a wireless power transfer system from the view of the power grid under a variety of loading conditions with and without power factor correction.

Vehicle to grid (V2G) power transfer has been under research for more than a decade because of the large energy reserve of an electric vehicle battery and the potential of thousands of these connected to the grid. In this study a complete analysis of the front end inverter of a non-isolated bidirectional EV/PHEV charger capable of V2G reactive power compensation is presented.

Most of the failures in IGBTs are caused by thermal fatigue. Hence, the thermal analysis of IGBTs for each particular application is an important step in determining their lifetime. In this paper, the thermal analysis of a STATCOM is presented for two different applications, power factor correction and harmonic elimination. The STATCOM model is developed in EMTP for the above mentioned functions. The analytical equations for average conduction losses in an IGBT and a diode are derived. The electrothermal model is used to estimate the temperature of the IGBT. A comparative analysis of the thermal stresses on the IGBT with various parameters such as power factor, harmonic frequency, and harmonic amplitude is presented as a basis for future reliability testing of IGBTs in FACTS applications.

More battery powered electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) will be introduced to the market in 2011 and beyond. PHEVs/EVs potentially have the capability to fulfill the energy storage needs of the electric grid by supplying ancillary services such as reactive power compensation, voltage regulation, and peak shaving since they carry an on-board battery charger. However, to allow bidirectional power transfer, the PHEV battery charger should be designed to manage such reactive power capability. This study shows how bidirectional four quadrant operation affects the design stage of a conventional unidirectional charger and the operation of the battery pack. Mainly, the subjects that are discussed are the following: required topology updates, dc link capacitor (voltage and current), ac inductor (current), rectifier (power loss), and battery pack (voltage and current).

This work presents an approach to determine the input voltage value of each cell in a cascade H-bridge multilevel inverter using a sensor at the output of the inverter to eliminate all the dc voltage sensors measuring the individual source voltages. The input voltages can be equal or unequal. The MOSFET device datasheet, the ambient temperature, and the modulation strategy are utilized to estimate the switch voltage drop to compensate for the measurement. The output voltage is then processed by a DSP unit that uses the signals that command the switches to estimate the voltage at each cell. Simulation and experimental results are shown for a seven-level cascade multilevel inverter operating under a RLC load.

Electric vehicles (EVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are becoming a part of the electric grid day by day. Chargers for these vehicles have the ability to make this interaction better for the consumer and for the grid. Vehicle to grid (V2G) power transfer has been under research for more than a decade because of the large energy reserve of an electric vehicle battery and the potential of thousands of these connected to the grid. Rather than discharging the vehicle batteries, reactive power compensation in particular is beneficial for both consumers and for the utility. However, certain adverse effects or requirements of reactive power transfer should be defined before a design stage. To understand the dynamics of this operation, this study investigates the effect of reactive power transfer on the charger system components, especially on the dc-link capacitor and the battery.

This work approximates the selective harmonic elimination problem using Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) to generate the switching angles in an 11-level full bridge cascade inverter powered by five varying DC input sources. Five 195 W solar panels were used as the DC source for each full bridge. The angles were chosen such that the fundamental was kept constant and the low order harmonics were minimized or eliminated. A non-deterministic method is used to solve the system for the angles and to obtain the data set for the ANN training. The method also provides a set of acceptable solutions in the space where solutions do not exist by analytical methods. The trained ANN shows to be a suitable tool that brings a small generalization effect on the angles' precision.

With efforts to reduce the cost, size, and thermal management systems for the power electronics drivetrain in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), wide band gap semiconductors including silicon carbide (SiC) have been identified as possibly being a partial solution. Research on SiC power electronics has shown their higher efficiency compared to Si power electronics due to significantly lower conduction and switching losses. This paper focuses on the development of a high power module based on SiC JFETs and Schottky diodes. Characterization of a single device, a module developed using the same device, and finally an inverter built using the modules is presented. When tested at moderate load levels compared to the inverter rating, an efficiency of 98.2% was achieved by the initial prototype.

Plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) potentially have the capability to fulfill the energy storage needs of the electric grid by supplying ancillary services such as reactive power compensation, voltage regulation, and peak shaving. However, in order to allow bidirectional power transfer, the PHEV battery charger should be designed to manage such capability. While many different battery chargers have been available since the inception of the first electric vehicles (EVs), on-board, conductive chargers with bidirectional power transfer capability have recently drawn attention due to their inherent advantages in charging accessibility, ease of use, and efficiency. In this paper, a reactive power compensation case study using just the inverter dc-link capacitor is evaluated when a PHEV battery is under charging operation. Finally, the impact of providing these services on the batteries is also explained.

Renewable energy sources and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) are becoming very popular in research areas, as well as in the market. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate how a solar powered building interacts with energy storage and how it can be used to power a PHEV and to support the grid with peak shaving, load shifting, and reducing annual energy usage. A net zero energy house (ZEH5) is selected as the base house for this experiment. Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) is developing simulation models and energy management scenarios using the actual solar production and residential energy usage data, and a PHEV. The system interaction with the grid is evaluated after getting all the data from PHEV charging, photovoltaic (PV) power production, and residential load.

In this paper a comparison of performance of an hybrid electric vehicle with an all-silicon (Si), hybrid (Si and SiC), and an all-Silicon Carbide (SiC) inverters simulated for the standard US06 driving cycle is presented. The system model includes a motor/generator model, a boost converter model, and an inverter loss model developed using actual measured data. The drive train simulation results will provide an insight to the impact of SiC devices on overall system efficiency gains compared to Si devices over the drive cycle at different operating conditions.

This paper presents a study of silicon carbide (SiC) technology which includes device characterization and modeling, inverter simulation, and test results for several prototype inverters. The static and dynamic characteristics of discrete devices and half bridge modules are presented. Test results of a 55 kW hybrid inverter with SiC Schottky diodes and an 18 kW all-SiC inverter using SiC JFETs and Schottky diodes are demonstrated.

A cascade multilevel inverter consisting of a standard 3-leg inverter supplied by a DC source and three full H-bridges each supplied by a capacitor is considered for use as a motor drive. The capacitor H-bridges can only supply reactive voltage to the motor while the standard three leg inverter can supply both reactive and active voltage. A switching control algorithm is presented that shows this inverter topology can be used as an AC drive achieving considerable performance advantages (e.g., higher motor speed) compared to using a standard 3-leg inverter while at the same time regulating the capacitor voltages. The converter controller is a fundamental frequency switching controller based on programmed PWM to achieve higher efficiency (less power losses in the switches) compared to high-frequency PWM approaches. As is well known, the programmed PWM switching times are computed assuming the drive is in sinusoidal steady-state, that is, the derived switching angles achieve the fundamental while rejecting specified harmonics if the voltage waveforms are in sinusoidal steady-state. Here it shown that the switching commands to the converter can be implemented in a smooth fashion for voltage waveform commands whose frequency and amplitudes are continuously varying.

In hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), a battery-powered three-phase inverter is used to drive the traction motor. Due to the switching behavior of this inverter, significant harmonic currents are present on the DC side of the inverter. Traditionally, a bulky capacitor is used to filter these harmonics. In this paper, an active filtering method is evaluated to substitute for the DC bus capacitor. The active power filter (APF), composed of power electronic switches and an inductor, works as a current-source inverter. The operation principle of the proposed method is described and implemented in Matlab/Simulink. The method has been proposed before but the practical feasibility of this method has not been evaluated. In this paper, several crucial design parameters in association with the filtering effect, such as voltage band and the values of the inductor and the smoothing capacitor are identified, and the dependence of system performance on these parameters is illustrated. Finally, the underlying problems for practical implementation are discussed.

This paper presents a fundamental frequency modulated multilevel inverter scheme for use with a three-phase stand-alone photovoltaic (PV) system. The system consists of four series connected PV arrays, a five-level diode-clamped multilevel inverter (DCMLI) generating fundamental modulation staircase three-phase output voltages, and a three-phase induction motor as the load. In order to validate the proposed concept, simulation studies and experimental measurements, done using a small-scale laboratory prototype, are also presented. The results show the feasibility of the fundamental switching application in three- phase stand-alone PV power systems.

A hybrid multilevel inverter model based on PSIM and MATLAB/SIMULINK is presented in this paper. It consists of a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and H-bridge in series with each inverter leg. The inverter can be used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV). The co-simulation model is employed in order to take full advantage of different power electronics simulation software. Specifically, the main circuit model is developed using PSIM, and the control model is developed using MATLAB/SIMULINK. An experimental 5-level hybrid inverter is tested, which is controlled by multilevel carrier-based PWM signals. The simulation yields a good estimation for the test results of the inverter.

A new approach for selective harmonic elimination in a 7-level cascaded multilevel inverter with separate DC sources will be presented. As opposed to previous research in this area, the DC sources feeding the multilevel inverter are considered to be varying in time. This method uses genetic algorithms to obtain switching angles offline for different DC source values and uses neural networks to determine the switching angles that correspond to the real-time values of the DC sources. This implies that each one of the DC sources of this topology can have different values at any time but the output fundamental voltage will stay constant and the harmonic will still meet the specifications. The paper gives details on the approach used, together with simulation and experimental results.

Environmentally friendly technologies such as photovoltaics and fuel cells are DC sources. In the current power infrastructure, this necessitates converting the power supplied by these devices into AC for transmission and distribution which adds losses and complexity. The amount of DC loads in our buildings is ever-increasing with computers, monitors, and other electronics entering our workplaces and homes. This forces another conversion of the AC power to DC, adding further losses and complexity. This paper proposes the use of a DC distribution system. In this study, an equivalent AC and DC distribution system are compared in terms of efficiency.

Many studies comparing AC and DC systems have focused on efficiency, stability, and controllability, but have not compared the maximum transfer capability. In this paper, the maximum transfer capability of an AC system and two DC systems, one with two lines and another with three, is determined through the continuation power flow method and compared. The results reveal that significant gains can be achieved by moving to a DC system with three lines.

A hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter with PWM method is presented in this paper. It consists of a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and H-bridge in series with each inverter leg. It can use only a single DC power source to supply a standard 3-leg inverter along with three full H-bridges supplied by capacitors. Multilevel carrier- based PWM method is used to produce a five-level phase voltage. The inverter can be used in hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and electric vehicles (EV). A simulation model based on PSIM and MATLAB/SIMULINK is developed. An experimental 5 kW prototype inverter is built and tested. The results experimentally validate the proposed PWM hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter.

This paper presents a hybrid cascaded multilevel inverter for electric vehicles (EV) / hybrid electric vehicles (HEV) and utility interface applications. The inverter consists of a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and H-bridge in series with each inverter leg. It can use only a single DC power source to supply a standard 3-leg inverter along with three full H-bridges supplied by capacitors or batteries. Both fundamental frequency and high switching frequency PWM methods are used for the hybrid multilevel inverter. An experimental 5 kW prototype inverter is built and tested. The above two switching control methods are validated and compared experimentally.

A cascade multilevel inverter is a power electronic device built to synthesize a desired AC voltage from several levels of DC voltages. Such inverters have been the subject of research in the last several years, where the DC levels were considered to be identical in that all of them were either batteries, solar cells, etc. Similar to previous results in the literature, the work here shows how a cascade multilevel inverter can be used to obtain a voltage boost at higher speeds for a three-phase PM drive using only a single DC voltage source. The input of a standard three-leg inverter is connected to the DC source and the output of each leg is fed through an H-bridge (which is supplied by a capacitor) to form a cascade multilevel inverter. A fundamental switching scheme is used, which achieves the fundamental in the output voltage while eliminating the fifth harmonic. A new contribution in this paper is the development of explicit conditions in terms of the power factor and modulation index for which the capacitor voltage of the H-bridges can be regulated while simultaneously maintaining the aforementioned output voltage. This is then used for a PM motor drive showing the machine can attain higher speeds due to the higher output voltage of the multilevel inverter compared to using just a three-leg inverter.

The interest here is in using a single DC power source to construct a 3-phase 5-level cascade multilevel inverter to be used as a drive for a PM traction motor. The 5-level inverter consists of a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and an H-bridge in series with each inverter leg, which use a capacitor as a DC source. It is shown that one can simultaneously maintain the regulation of the capacitor voltage while achieving an output voltage waveform which is 25% higher than that obtained using a standard 3-leg inverter by itself.

This paper presents an inductorless cascaded H- bridge multilevel boost inverter for EV and HEV applications. Currently available power inverter systems for HEVs use a DC- DC boost converter to boost the battery voltage for a traditional 3-phase inverter. The present HEV traction drive inverters have low power density, are expensive, and have low efficiency because they need a bulky inductor. An inductorless cascaded H-bridge multilevel boost inverter for EV and HEV applications is proposed in this paper. Traditionally, each H-bridge needs a DC power supply. The proposed inductorless cascaded H-bridge multilevel boost inverter uses a standard 3-leg inverter (one leg for each phase) and an H-bridge in series with each inverter leg which uses a capacitor as the DC power source. Fundamental switching scheme is used to do modulation control and to produce a 5-level phase voltage. Experiments show that the proposed inductorless DC-AC cascaded H-bridge multilevel boost inverter can output a boosted AC voltage.

This paper presents a modulation extension control algorithm for hybrid cascaded H-bridge multilevel converters. The hybrid cascaded H-bridge multilevel motor drive using only a single DC source for each phase is promising for high power motor drive applications since it can greatly decrease the number of required DC power supplies, has high quality output power due to its high number of output levels, and has high conversion efficiency and low thermal stress by using fundamental frequency switching scheme. But one disadvantage of the 7-level fundamental frequency switching scheme is that its modulation index range is too narrow when capacitor's voltage balance is maintained. The proposed modulation extension control algorithm can greatly increase capacitors' charging time and decrease the capacitors' discharging time by injecting triplen harmonics to extend the modulation index range of the hybrid cascaded H-bridge multilevel converters.

The ability of cascaded H-bridge multilevel inverter drives (MLID) to operate under faulty condition including AI-based fault diagnosis and reconfiguration system is proposed in this paper. Output phase voltages of a MLID can be used as valuable information to diagnose faults and their locations. It is difficult to diagnose a MLID system using a mathematical model because MLID systems consist of many switching devices and their system complexity has a nonlinear factor. Therefore, a neural network (NN) classification is applied to the fault diagnosis of a MLID system. Multilayer perceptron (MLP) networks are used to identify the type and location of occurring faults. The principal component analysis (PCA) is utilized in the feature extraction process to reduce the NN input size. A lower dimensional input space will also usually reduce the time necessary to train a NN, and the reduced noise may improve the mapping performance. The genetic algorithm (GA) is also applied to select the valuable principal components to train the NN. A reconfiguration technique is also proposed. The proposed system is validated with simulation and experimental results. The proposed fault diagnostic system requires about 6 cycles (~100 ms at 60 Hz) to clear an open circuit and about 9 cycles (~150 ms at 60 Hz) to clear a short circuit fault. The experiment and simulation results are in good agreement with each other, and the results show that the proposed system performs satisfactorily to detect the fault type, fault location, and reconfiguration.

Sensors are essential in feedback control systems, because the performance is dependent on the measurements. Fault in sensors may lead to intolerable degradation of performance and even to instability. Therefore, the high performance expected with vector control may not be achieved with fault in sensors. Several approaches related to fault tolerant motor control have already been proposed. However, most of them consider the sensors fault-free and work about faults in motors and actuators. Furthermore, the purpose of this work is not only sensor fault tolerance but also sensor fault compensation. In a standard fault tolerant approach, the fault would be detected and the sensor would be isolated. The faulted sensor may have an off-set or scaling error and could still be used if its error is compensated. In this paper, this is done with a mathematical solution based on kernel regression that can compensate the measurement error generating more accurate and reliable estimates. This technique is described and applied in motor drives. Simulated and experimental results are presented and discussed.

A method is presented showing that a cascade multilevel inverter can be implemented using only a single DC power source and capacitors. A standard cascade multilevel inverter requires n DC sources for 2n + 1 levels. Without requiring transformers, the scheme proposed here allows the use of a single DC power source (e.g., a battery or a fuel cell stack) with the remaining n-1 DC sources being capacitors. It is shown that one can simultaneously maintain the DC voltage level of the capacitors and choose a fundamental frequency switching pattern to produce a nearly sinusoidal output.

The purpose of this work is to provide validated models to estimate the performance of a SiC-based converter as a utility interface in battery systems. System design and modeling are described in detail. Simulations are done for both a SiC JFET converter and its Si counterpart based on the quality of tested devices. The simulation results indicate that in both charging and discharging modes, the SiC converter has a better performance compared to the Si one. (1) With the same heatsink size and ambient temperature, great advantages in efficiency and junction temperatures were found in the SiC-based converter. (2) With the same thermal limit, large savings in system weight and volume combined with a high efficiency were found in the SiC-based converter

Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices are expected to have an impact on power converter efficiency, weight, volume, and reliability. Presently, only SiC Schottky diodes are commercially available at relatively low current ratings. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has collaborated with Cree and Semikron to build a Si IGBT-SiC Schottky diode hybrid 55kW inverter by replacing the Si pn diodes in Semikron's automotive inverter with Cree's made-to-order higher current SiC Schottky diodes. This paper presents the developed models of these diodes for circuit simulators, shows inverter test results, and compares the results to those of a similar all-Si inverter.

Most of the present models of silicon carbide (SiC) Schottky diodes are not suitable for evaluating their performance from a system level. The models presented in this paper are specialized for system-level simulations. They are based on basic semiconductor theories and synthesis of some models in the literature. Theoretical and experimental characterization of SiC Schottky power diodes is also involved. The models describe both static and dynamic behaviors of SiC Schottky power diodes. Thermal effects are considered as well for a better evaluation of power losses evaluation and cooling system design. The models were also used to estimate the efficiencies of Si IGBT/SiC Schottky diode hybrid inverter. To validate the simulation, a Si IGBT/SiC Schottky diode hybrid inverter and a Si IGBT inverter were built and tested

This paper presents a hybrid cascaded H-bridge multilevel motor drive control scheme for electric/hybrid electric vehicles where each phase of a three-phase cascaded multilevel converter can be implemented using only a single DC source and capacitors for the other DC sources. Traditionally, each phase of a three-phase cascaded multilevel converter requires n DC sources for 2n + 1 output voltage levels. In this paper, a scheme is proposed that allows the use of a single DC source as the first DC source with the remaining n − 1 DC sources being capacitors. It is shown that a simple 7-level equal step output voltage switching control can simultaneously maintain the balance of DC voltage levels of the capacitors, eliminate specified low order non-triplen harmonics, and produce a nearly sinusoidal three-phase output voltage. This scheme therefore provides the capability to produce higher voltages at higher speeds (where they are needed) with a low switching frequency method for motor drive application, which has inherent low switching losses and high conversion efficiency. This control scheme especially fits fuel cell electric vehicle motor drive applications and hybrid electric vehicle motor drive applications.

Silicon carbide (SiC) power devices are expected to have an impact on power converter efficiency, weight, volume, and reliability. Presently, only SiC Schottky diodes are commercially available at relatively low current ratings. Oak Ridge National Laboratory has collaborated with Cree and Semikron to build a Si IGBT-SiC Schottky diode hybrid 55 kW inverter by replacing the Si pn diodes in Semikron's automotive inverter with Cree's made-to-order higher current SiC Schottky diodes. This paper shows the results obtained from testing this inverter and compares it to a similar all-Si inverter.

This paper presents a set of models for a SiC VJFET inverter from device level to system level. The simulations for SiC and Si inverters indicated that the SiC inverter has a much lower junction temperature, much less power loss, significantly enhanced energy efficiency, and a dramatic reduction in heatsink size as compared with the Si inverter. This demonstrated the technical feasibility and benefits of the all-SiC inverter. In addition to the simulations, experimental tests have also been conducted on SiC VJFETs and Schottky diodes for parameter extraction.

Silicon carbide (SiC) unipolar devices have much higher breakdown voltages because of the ten times greater electric field strength of SiC compared with silicon (Si). 4H-SiC unipolar devices have higher switching speeds due to the higher bulk mobility of 4H-SiC compared to other polytypes. Four commercially available SiC Schottky diodes at different voltage and current ratings, an experimental VJFET, and MOSFET samples have been tested to characterize their performance at different temperatures. Their forward characteristics and switching characteristics in a temperature range of -50degC to 175degC are presented. The results of the SiC Schottky diodes are compared with those of a Si pn diode with comparable ratings

This paper presents a two-phase cooling method using R134a refrigerant to dissipate the heat energy (loss) generated by power electronics (PE) such as those associated with rectifiers, converters, and inverters for a specific application in hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs). The cooling method involves submerging PE devices in an R134a bath, which limits the junction temperature of PE devices while conserving weight and volume of the heat sink without sacrificing equipment reliability. First, experimental tests that included an extended soak for more than 300 days were performed on a submerged IGBT and gate-controller card to study dielectric characteristics, deterioration effects, and heat flux capability of R134a. Results from these tests illustrate that R134a has high dielectric characteristics, no deterioration on electrical components, and a heat flux of 114 W/cm 2 for the experimental configuration. Second, experimental tests that included simultaneous operation with a mock automotive air-conditioner (A/C) system were performed on the same IGBT and gate controller card. Data extrapolation from these tests determined that a typical automotive A/C system has more than sufficient cooling capacity to cool a typical 30 kW traction inverter. Last, a discussion and simulation of active cooling of the IGBT junction layer with R134a refrigerant is given. This technique will drastically increase the forward current ratings and reliability of the PE device

Axial-gap permanent magnet synchronous motors (AGPMSM) with disc magnets have been presented as a viable candidate for high speed traction drive applications in electric or hybrid electric vehicles. In this paper, back emf equation for an AGPMSM is derived and it is overlapped with the measured back emf for verification purposes

The development of semiconductor devices is vital for the growth of power electronic systems. Modern technologies like voltage source converter (VSC) based HVDC transmission has been made possible with the advent of power semiconductor devices like GTO thyristors and their high power handling capability. Silicon carbide is the most advanced material among the available wide band gap semiconductors and most SiC devices are currently in the transition from research to manufacturing phase. This paper presents the modeling and design of a loss model for a 4H-SiC GTO thyristor device. The device loss model has been developed based on the device physics and device operation, and simulations have been conducted for various operating conditions. The loss model was integrated in the HVDC transmission system model to study the effects of the Si and SiC devices on the system. The paper focuses on the comparison of Si devices with SiC devices in terms of efficiency and cost savings for a HVDC transmission system.

The increase in use of power electronics in transmission and distribution applications is the driving force for development of high power devices. Utility applications like FACTS and HVDC require cost effective and highly efficient converters with high power ratings. SiC power devices have some exceptional physical properties that make them highly reliable at high power, high temperature, and high frequencies. This paper presents the modeling of temperature dependent 4H-SiC GTO thyristor and p-n diode loss models. The conduction and switching losses of the devices for various operating conditions have been simulated and compared for SiC and Si devices. These loss models are integrated with an HVDC transmission system to study the effect of Si and SiC devices on the system in terms of system efficiency and system cost management.

Multilevel converters have been used previously to integrate several fuel cell modules for higher power applications. Some previous publications have also shown improvements in fuel cell utilization by exploiting the static characteristics of fuel cells, which show more than a 30% difference in the output voltage between no-load to full-load conditions. This paper first describes standard fuel cell power electronics interfaces, then reviews a few of the multi input systems and explores additional configurations.

Silicon (Si) unipolar devices are limited in breakdown voltages because of the low electric field strength of the material. Silicon carbide (SiC) unipolar devices, on the other hand, have 10 times greater electric field strength and hence they have much higher breakdown voltages compared with Si. They also have low static and dynamic losses compared with Si devices. Four commercially available SiC Schottky diodes at different voltage and current ratings and an experimental SiC VJFET sample have been tested to characterize their performance at different temperatures. Their forward characteristics and switching characteristics in a temperature range of -50 /spl deg/C to 175 /spl deg/C are presented. The results for the SiC Schottky diodes are compared with the results for a Si pn diode with comparable ratings. The experimental data were analyzed to obtain the device performance parameters like the on-state resistance and the switching losses.

Static characteristics of fuel cells show more than a 30% difference in the output voltage between no-load to full-load conditions. This inevitable decrease, which is caused by internal losses, reduces the utilization factor of the fuel cells at low loads. Additionally, the converters fed by these fuel cells have to be derated to accommodate higher input voltages at low currents. To increase the utilization of fuel cells and to avoid derating of semiconductors, this paper proposes a level reduction control using a multilevel DC-DC converter. Level reduction is done by inhibiting a certain number of fuel cells when the load current decreases. The inhibited fuel cells can be used in other applications such as charging batteries to further increase their utilization and the efficiency of the system.

Static characteristics of fuel cells show more than a 30% difference in the output voltage between no-load to full-load conditions. This inevitable decrease, which is caused by internal losses, reduces the utilization factor of the fuel cells at low loads. Additionally, the converters fed by these fuel cells have to be derated to accommodate higher input voltages at low currents. To increase the utilization of fuel cells and to avoid derating of semiconductors, this paper proposes a level reduction control using a multilevel inverter. Level reduction is done by inhibiting a certain number of fuel cells when the load current decreases. The inhibited fuel cells can be used in other applications such as charging batteries to further increase their utilization and the efficiency of the system.

In this paper, a modular Simulink implementation of an induction machine model is described in a step-by-step approach. With the modular system, each block solves one of the model equations; therefore, unlike black box models, all of the machine parameters are accessible for control and verification purposes. After the implementation, examples are given with the model used in different drive applications, such as open-loop constant V/Hz control and indirect vector control are given. Finally, the use of the model as an Induction generator is demonstrated.

According to SECA program guidelines, solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) are produced in the form of 3-10 kW modules for residential use. In addition to residential use, these modules can also be used in apartment buildings, hospitals, etc., where a higher power rating would be required. For example, a hospital might require a 250 kW power supply. To provide this power using the SOFC modules, 25 of the 10 kW modules would be required. These modules can be integrated in different configurations to yield the necessary power. This paper shows five different approaches for integrating numerous SOFC modules and will evaluate and compare each one with respect to cost, control complexity, ease of modularity, and fault tolerance.

The emergence of silicon carbide- (SiC-) based power semiconductor switches, with their superior features compared with silicon- (Si-) based switches, has resulted in substantial improvement in the performance of power electronics converter systems. These systems with SiC power devices have the qualities of being more compact, lighter, and more efficient; thus, they are ideal for high-voltage power electronics applications such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) traction drive. More research is required to show the impact of SIC devices in power conversion systems. In this study, findings of SIC research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (OWL), TN, USA, including SIC device design and system modeling studies, are discussed.

The emergence of silicon carbide- (SiC-) based power semiconductor switches, with their superior features compared with silicon- (Si-) based switches, has resulted in substantial improvement in the performance of power electronics converter systems. These systems with SiC power devices have the qualities of being more compact, lighter and more efficient; thus, they are ideal for high-voltage power electronics applications such as a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) traction drive. More research is required to show the impact of SiC devices in power conversion systems. In this study, findings of SiC research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), including SiC device design and system modeling studies, are discussed.

Materials and device researchers build switching devices for the circuits researchers to use in their circuits, but they rarely know how and where the devices are going to be used. The circuits people, including power electronics researchers, take the devices as black boxes and use them in their circuits not knowing much about the inside of the devices. The best way to design optimum devices is an interactive design where people designing and building the devices have a close interaction with the people who use them. This study covers the circuit aspects of the SiC power device development. As a contribution to the above-mentioned interactive design, in this paper, the device parameters, which need to be improved in order to design better devices, are discussed.

Materials and device researchers build switching devices for the circuit researchers to use in their circuits, but they rarely know how and where the devices are going to be used. The circuits people, including power electronics researchers, take the devices as black boxes and use them in their circuits not knowing much about the inside of the devices. The best way to design optimum devices is an interactive design where people designing and building the devices have a close interaction with the people who use them. This study covers the circuit aspects of the SiC power device development. As a contribution to the abovementioned interactive design, in this paper, the device parameters, which need to be improved in order to design better devices, are discussed.

The emergence of silicon carbide (SiC) based power semiconductor switches with their superior features compared with silicon (Si) based switches has resulted in substantial improvements in the performance of power electronics converter systems. These systems with SiC power devices are more compact, lighter, and more efficient, so they are ideal for high-voltage power electronics applications, including hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) traction drives. In this paper, the effect of SiC-based power devices on HEV traction drive losses are investigated. Reductions in heat sink size and device losses with the increase in the efficiency will be analyzed using an averaging model of a three-phase PWM inverter (TPPWMI). For more accurate results, device physics is taken into consideration to find the loss equations for the controllable switches.

As the size and the cost of power semiconductor switches are decreasing, converter topologies with high device count are starting to draw more attention. One such type of converter is the high frequency AC (HFAC) link converters. A popular control method for these converters is pulse density modulation (PDM). The HFAC link voltage of the converter in this paper is a high frequency, three-step, variable pulse-width (PW) square wave voltage waveform. A genetic algorithm approach is used to determine the PW to optimize the output voltage harmonic content.

High frequency link power conversion techniques are receiving a lot of attention in the literature. As the size and cost of traditional converters are shrinking, we are seeing the emergence of high frequency link power conversion with all its characteristic advantages. The paper describes a performance-enhanced high-frequency nonresonant link power conversion system where the input DC is converted to high frequency (20 to 50 kHz range) single-phase AC, and then converted to variable frequency variable voltage three-phase AC for driving an AC motor load. A lightweight ultra-low leakage inductance transformer in the high frequency link provides the advantages of isolation, voltage level boost in the secondary, and auxiliary power supplies. The scheme is particularly attractive for electric vehicle type applications. All the switches are soft-switched, and there is no voltage or current penalty of the devices. Although the number of components are somewhat higher, there are overall advantages of improved efficiency, power density and reliability in the total system, particularly when used with MCT-PEBB (power electronic building block) based modules. The system was analyzed thoroughly, designed, control strategy was developed, modelled for simulation, and then performance was evaluated. An experimental laboratory drive with 30 hp induction motor is being built and evaluated.

Soft-switched high frequency link power conversion has a number of attractive features, and for this reason, it is a favorite topic of R&D in the literature. The paper describes a high frequency nonresonant link soft-switched DC-AC converter for AC motor drive that operates on the principle of integral pulse modulation. A light-weight ultra-low leakage inductance transformer in the high frequency link provides the advantages of isolation, voltage level boost in the secondary, and auxiliary power supplies. All the devices in the converter are ideally soft-switched by zero voltage switching. In spite of additional components compared to traditional converters, the scheme has the overall advantages of good efficiency, good power density and improved reliability in the total system particularly when used with MCT-PEBB (power electronics building block) based modules. A complete converter system has been analyzed, designed, control strategy has been developed, modeled for simulation study, and performance has been evaluated with a four-quadrant vector-controlled 5 hp induction motor drive using the link frequency of 20 kHz. A laboratory test of 5 hp drive is in progress.