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U.S. Department of Energy
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Power electronics reliability.

Conference ·
OSTI ID:1028357

The project's goals are: (1) use experiments and modeling to investigate and characterize stress-related failure modes of post-silicon power electronic (PE) devices such as silicon carbide (SiC) and gallium nitride (GaN) switches; and (2) seek opportunities for condition monitoring (CM) and prognostics and health management (PHM) to further enhance the reliability of power electronics devices and equipment. CM - detect anomalies and diagnose problems that require maintenance. PHM - track damage growth, predict time to failure, and manage subsequent maintenance and operations in such a way to optimize overall system utility against cost. The benefits of CM/PHM are: (1) operate power conversion systems in ways that will preclude predicted failures; (2) reduce unscheduled downtime and thereby reduce costs; and (3) pioneering reliability in SiC and GaN.

Research Organization:
Sandia National Laboratories
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC04-94AL85000
OSTI ID:
1028357
Report Number(s):
SAND2010-7600C
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English