Modified rainflow algorithm for temperature-time-dependent counting in lifetime estimation of power devices

Renata O. de Sousa; Rodrigo C. de Barros; William C. S. Amorim; Allan F. Cupertino; Heverton Augusto Pereira; Lenin M. F. Morais

doi:10.18618/REP.e202532

Authors

Renata O. de Sousa Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9556-5260
Rodrigo C. de Barros Universidade Federal de Ouro Preto https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7662-3947
William C. S. Amorim Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Minas Gerais https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2054-4393
Allan F. Cupertino Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8418-1985
Heverton Augusto Pereira Universidade Federal de Viçosa https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0710-7815
Lenin M. F. Morais Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1680-0400

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18618/REP.e202532

Keywords:

cycle counting algorithm, modified rainflow, lifetime estimation, power devices, reliability

Abstract

Power electronic systems include many fragile elements, with power devices being the most prone to failure. Cycle counting algorithms are essential to evaluate power devices degradation and system reliability. Among the available options, the rainflow algorithm is the most widely used. Since the rainflow algorithm was originally designed for fatigue analysis, it faces challenges when applied to power devices. Specifically, the conventional rainflow algorithm cannot compute the effective heating time and the time-dependent equivalent mean temperature of the thermal cycles. Additionally, it counts cooling half-cycles, which contradicts the basis of lifetime models, as these models rely on data associated with heating temperature gradients. To address these limitations, this work introduces a modified rainflow algorithm for cycle counting in the lifetime estimation of power devices. This methodology enhances the conventional rainflow by enabling the calculation of effective heating time and mean temperature while also filtering out cooling half-cycles. The results demonstrate that the modified rainflow algorithm significantly affects the lifetime predictions for all critical joints in an IGBT module, regardless of the mission profile. Across all case studies, the utilization of the modified rainflow algorithm resulted in a damage reduction exceeding 53\%. %.

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Author Biographies

Renata O. de Sousa, Universidade Tecnológica Federal do Paraná

engineering from the Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil, in 2018, the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2019, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, in 2022. From 2021 to 2022, she was a Guest Ph.D. student with the Department of Energy, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. From 2020 to 2021, she was a substitute Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering, Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais. She is currently a Professor at the Department of Electronics, Federal University of Technology - Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil. Her main research interests include the reliability of power electronics-based systems, multilevel converters, high-voltage direct current systems, static synchronous compensator systems, and wireless control of power electronics-based systems.

William C. S. Amorim, Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia de Minas Gerais

received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Universidade Federal de Viçosa (UFV), Viçosa, Brazil, in 2018. He received the M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Federal Center for Technological Education of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2019. In this institution, he carried out research in the area of information theory, with emphasis on Coding Theory by the PICME Program. He has been an EBTT Professor with the Campus Itabirito, IFMG, since 2022. He was a Substitute Professor with the Department of Electrical Engineering in UFV and a Researcher Assistant with Gerencia de Especialistas em Eletrônica de Potência (GESEP). His research interests include power electronics and electrical power systems, with focus in the modular multilevel cascade converters and BESS.

Allan F. Cupertino, Universidade Federal de Juiz de Fora

received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Viçosa (UFV) in 2013, the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in 2015 and 2019, respectively. He was a guest Ph.D. at the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University from 2018 to 2019. From 2014 to 2022, he was an Assistant Professor in the area of electric machines and power electronics at the Federal Center of Technological Education of Minas Gerais (CEFET). Since 2023, he has been with the Department of Electrical Energy at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (UFJF). His main research interests include renewable energy conversion systems, smart battery energy storage systems, cascaded multilevel converters, and reliability of power electronics. Prof. Cupertino was the recipient of the President Bernardes Silver Medal in 2013, the SOBRAEP Ph.D. Thesis Award in 2020 and the IAS CMD Ph.D. Thesis Contest in 2021. He is a member of the Brazilian Power Electronics Society (SOBRAEP) and the Brazilian Society of Automatics (SBA). In 2024, he became an IEEE Senior Member and researcher at the National Institute of Electrical Energy (INERGE).

Heverton Augusto Pereira, Universidade Federal de Viçosa

received the B.S. degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Viçosa, Viçosa, Brazil, in 2007, the M.Sc. degree in electrical engineering from the University of Campinas, Campinas, Brazil, in 2009, and the Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2015. In 2014, he was a Visiting Researcher with the Department of Energy Technology, Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark. In 2009, he was with the Department of Electric Engineering, Federal University of Viçosa, where he is currently an Adjunct Professor. His research interests include grid-connected converters for photovoltaic systems, HVDC/FACTS, and drives based on modular multilevel converters.

Lenin M. F. Morais, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

received the bachelor’s degree, the master’s degree, and the doctor’s degree, all in electrical engineering from the Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil, in 2000, 2002, and 2007, respectively. He is currently a IV Associate Professor with the Electronics Engineering Department, Federal University of Minas Gerais. He was a Postdoctoral Intern with the Laboratoire Plasma et Conversion d’Energie - LAPLACE, Université Toulouse III Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France, and with the Institut de Recherche Technologique - IRT Saint Exupéry, Toulouse, France. He has experience in the field of electrical engineering, with emphasis on power electronics, industrial electronics, and electronic systems and controls. His research interests mainly include the following: projects of converters with high density of power/high performance, electronic reactors for high intensity discharge lamps, power LEDs, circuits for power factor correction, repetitive control, control based on positivity, PWM methods

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