Passive components assemblies pose a bottleneck in meeting an ever increasing demand for high power densities in power electronics systems. They are mostly built with discrete components that come from different manufacturers, are very diverse in shapes and not geometrically optimised to fit with each other. The use of integration technologies in passive component assemblies results in higher integration levels, better spatial design and integration of these assemblies in the system. Furthermore, reductions in cost and size are expected due to less material used, fewer manufacturing processes and simplified assembly. In this paper, electromagnetic integration in electrolytic capacitor technology for the implementation of a passive components assembly is presented. The paper shows the integration of the DC link filter in a 2.2 kW industrial drive, including a low pass filter and a DC link EMI filter in this technology. Some technological challenges including interconnections, thermal management, can manufacturing etc. are discussed. It is shown that by replacing the discrete DC link filter with the integrated filter, the volume of the input EMI filter can be reduced significantly thereby achieving the total passive components volume reduction of 45% while still complying with the EMI standards.@en

Current construction technology and design methods of power converters have reached power density limits that can only be surpassed by changing the way we design and build converters. This paper presents a system integration approach that allows for achieving high power densities. The key issues of the approach, namely hybrid integration in the form of integrated power electronics modules (IPEMs) and integrated thermal and spatial design with optimized air flow are presented in the paper. The spatial and thermal concept of a case study 2.2 kW converter for ac drives is presented and the technologies for implementing the IPEMs are listed. The complete system and the experimental results thereof are presented. The converter has a power density of 3.8 kW/1, which is almost four times larger than that of commercially available drives. The approach is not restricted to this application and can be applied to any converter in the medium power range.@en

The integration of an electrical machine and power electronics promises many benefits, the largest being an increase in power density. The use of system integration may lead to an increase in loss density and local or component temperatures. For this reason much attention needs to be paid to the thermal design aspects of the system. In the aerospace industry weight and reliability are of significant importance. In this paper the integration of a permanent magnet machine and power electronics into a single structure with joint thermal management is investigated. An overall goal of 2 kW/kg is set for system power density. Additionally in this paper fault tolerance is introduced into the design. This will allow the system to continue functioning should a single electrical fault occur. Principle faults are identified and discussed. A 50 kW, 6 phase, 8 pole permanent magnet machine is presented with a rotor speed of 50 krpm. A symmetrical phase shifted full bridge is used to drive the permanent magnet machine, aiding the functionality of fault tolerance and enabling the use of soft switching. A mathematical model for both machine and power electronics is created and used to calculate phase currents and losses in the machine and power electronics. Finally, spatial integration and thermal management concepts are presented and analysed.@en

Industrial drives, like many other power electronics applications are experiencing an ever increasing demand for high power densities. Only through a system integration approach which involves an integrated thermal and spatial design and using integration technologies can this goal be achieved. Hybrid integration in the form of integrated power electronics modules (IPEMs) is one of the key elements of this approach. Advanced thermal management with optimised air flow and a special heat sink structure is the other key element. In this paper a thermal management concept for high power density drives is investigated and a novel method, i.e. the integrated I-Housing, is utilized to implement the heat removal system. The complex thermal management structure consisting of an impingement cooled pin fin heatsink and heat exhaust paths, which significantly reduce the amount of air required for cooling, are modelled. The model presented in this paper is experimentally verified with a thermal dummy. The model is ultimately to be used to design the thermal management for a fully functional 2.2 kW inverter with a total volume of 500 cm3 - four times smaller than the current state of the art.@en

There is ever increasing interest in system integration in power electronics. However when asked what exactly system integration is, the answers vary greatly. In this paper, system integration in power electronics is considered, both theoretically and practically. This paper shows that system integration is a process that any correctly functioning power electronic system must undergo if it is to operate within its environment. Further, the environment and the boundary conditions that the environment imposes are the reason that a specific power electronic system is implemented as it is. This paper will discuss system integration as well as the factors that influence it and will illustrate that the system integration process is the same irrespective of the boundary conditions with the aid of several examples all of which require a high power density while operating in demanding environments. Keywords: system integraton; power denity; demanding requirements; boundary conditions@en

Power electronics is finding increasingly more applications in high temperature environments where power density is also a driving factor. The engine compartment of a passenger vehicle is one such example. In this paper, an integral thermal, electrical, and mechanical design of a high power density dc/dc converter operating in the thermally harsh automotive environment is discussed. The interactions and interdependencies between the three design disciplines are considered. It is illustrated how these interactions can be manipulated and used to an advantage in meeting the harsh temperature and high power density requirements of the automotive converter. Packaging and circuit techniques are identified that can be used to this end. Two case studies of a 2-kW 14-V/42-V dc/dc converter for application in the automotive environment are considered. The first prototype achieved a power density of 170 W/in/sup 3/ while the second prototype, operating with a higher environmental temperature achieved a power density of 120 W/in/sup 3/. The experimental structures and practical results are presented. Technology issues concerning the three-dimensional construction of the prototypes that need research attention are also identified@en

In this paper, a very high power density DC/DC converter module for automotive applications is investigated. The 14-V/42-V converter is specified to operate at a power level of 2.1 kW with a water cooled heat sink at 85/spl deg/C. The design and implementation of very high density passive components are discussed. Using the results of the passive component design, a prototype converter is built, achieving a final power density of 170W/in/sup 3/. The thermal performance of the passive components and the converter module under different electrical and thermal excitations is investigated and recorded. Results are presented over the full excitation range.@en