Speaker: Ionut Vernica
Abstract: Because of the high cost of failure associated with power electronic systems, reliability is becoming a key factor in many energy conversion applications. Thus, a realistic lifetime estimation of power electronics is needed in order to improve the reliability performance of the system, and inherently, reduce the overall lifecycle cost. However, current reliability-oriented design practices for power electronics are still mainly based on “rule-of-thumb” overdesign approaches, and typically do not considered the real-life environmental and loading conditions of the system. In this webinar, a mission-profile-based reliability assessment software tool is introduced, and its applicability in the early design and development stages of power electronic products is demonstrated. The tool allows for quick lifetime prediction under realistic environmental and operating mission profiles, and thus, facilitating the reliability-oriented design and optimization of power electronic systems. Firstly, the main framework and concept of the reliability assessment tool are briefly presented, highlighting its unique features and limitations. Secondly, the six-step model-based reliability assessment procedure implemented within the tool is discussed, and exemplified on the power electronic system of an Electric Vehicle (EV) application. Finally, the webinar ends with a short discussion on the future trends and research directions of reliability-oriented design practices for power electronics.
Bio: Ionuț Vernica (S’16, M’19) received the B.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from Politehnica University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania, in 2014. He received the M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in energy engineering from Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, in 2016 and 2019, respectively. Since October 2019, he has been with the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, where he is currently employed as a Postdoctoral Researcher working on several industrial collaboration projects related to the reliability of power electronic systems. He was a visiting researcher with Grundfos A/S, Bjerringbro, Denmark, and Danfoss Drives A/S, Gråsten, Denmark, from January to April 2019. His current research interests include reliability of IGBT power modules and capacitors, thermal management of power devices, electric vehicle applications and the design automation of power electronic systems. Dr. Vernica is the recipient of the “Best Originality Award” at the TECO Green Tech International Contest, Taipei, Taiwan, in 2019.