Heat Transfer In Integrated Power Electronic Modules And In New Type Of Plate-pin Fin Heat Sink

A large number of discrete devices are integrated in a power electronic module (IPEM) using the power electronic integration technology. The use of the IPEM makes the design and maintenance of a power electronic system much easier and extends the application area of the power electronic system. The next step developing the IPEM is to reduce its size and improve its performance, both of which lead to the high heat flux generated in the module. Therefore, dissipating the huge heat produced becomes the bottleneck of the IPEM development.The IPEM has been developed for 4~5 years up to now in oversea countries, and it is just at the beginning in China. Almost no special thermal study for the IPEM is carried out in China. Thermal designs of IPEMs were carried out by electrical engineers by experience or simulated from foreign products. The current thermal management status of the IPEM obviously couldn't satisfy its development requirements. Therefore, special thermal study aimed at the special structure and operation characteristics of the IPEM is very important for improving the performance and reliability of the IPEM and accelerating its development speed in our country.The heat transfer of a typical IPEM and the heat transfer in a new type of plate-pin fin heat sink were studied. The 3-dimension steady and transient thermal simulations of the power circuit of the IPEM, which produces most of heat of the module, were developed. The factors affecting on the junction-to-case thermal resistance of the module were studied according to the simulation results, which were verified by experiments. The sizes of direct bonded copper (DBC) board and copper substrate were optimized. The thermal effect of the power circuit on the driver & protection circuit is remarkable when the driver & protection circuit was packaged with the power circuit closely. The method of sandwiching an air gap between the power circuit and the driver & protection circuit was proposed. Experimental results showed that this method is very effective to weaken the thermal effect. A new type of plate-pin fin heat sink (PPFHS) was proposed and the fluid flow and heat transfer in the heat sink were simulated using the standard k ?εturbulent model. The flow field of the flow passages of the PPFHS and the PFHS were measured using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and the velocity distribution was analyzed. The pin positions of the PPFHS were optimized according to the velocity distribution and the simulation results.