As additional electrical functionalities are integrated into new cars to increase the comfort and safety of drivers and passengers, electrification in the automotive market increases. A key area of focus is the electrification of the powertrain, from mild hybrid to the full electric vehicle. This trend to more electrification results in the need for more power.
Higher current voltage applications are required to drive all new electric functionalities within strict mechanical boundaries. As power from a battery is expensive, the challenge is to use the electric power as efficiently as possible. To achieve this, the primary inverter needs to minimize switching losses and maximize thermal efficiency. Auxiliary inverters are used to power vehicle electrification solutions. The range of the vehicle is directly related to the efficiency of these inverters.
Long term reliability in harsh environmental conditions and vibration resistance are essential for under-the-hood applications. Efficient thermal management provides long term reliability by minimizing thermally induced stresses. The efficient dissipation of heat generated by IGBT power modules used in electric vehicles is critical to system quality and reliability. Design concepts such as integrating the inverter, DC-DC converter and electronic control unit, along with reducing the number of IGBT power chips, help design engineers to lower the size and weight of key systems, like the powertrain, and significantly reduce costs.
Rogers’ curamik® Ceramic Substrates and ROLINX® busbars solve the unique under-the-hood challenges for a variety of vehicle electrification applications, boosting performance, minimizing power losses and optimizing thermal management.
ROLINX PowerCircuit® Solutions are designed to fill the gap between PCBs and standard laminated busbars. The technologies of PCBs and laminated as a solution for power distribution is not without limitations. PCBs are not suitable for the typical currents of 100A to 500A. A switch to Power PCBs is necessary, despite this technology being unsuitable for high volume production due to its labor intensiveness. A standard laminated busbar does not encounter issues with the given current range. However, a standard laminated busbar is ill-fitted with high volume assembly processes (like wave soldering) and interconnection techniques. The ROLINX PowerCircuit solution provides an answer to this challenge and combines the advantages of a PCB for high volume assembly with the advantages of a standard laminated busbar for the current carrying capabilities.
