During the past years, electric automobiles have evolved from conceptual prototypes to a booming trend, overcoming great challenges on the way and occupying a growing portion of the automotive market. E-aircrafts are now in the concept phase, getting ready to take off.
This blog is part one of a two-part series which addresses the transition for RF design considerations at lower frequencies to design considerations at mmWave frequencies, from a basic RF design perspective.
Substrates are not only available in multiple copper and ceramic thicknesses, but also various design options and product features exist to fit the specific customers’ needs. In this blog, we take a closer look at these features.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Rail, Wind & Solar
As millimeter-wave technologies continue to advance in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry, there are emerging needs for more diverse circuit constructions. A previous limiting factor for complex millimeter-wave PCB constructions, had been appropriate bonding materials to accommodate the circuit fabrication as well as the demanding RF performance at these high frequencies. These issues have been addressed in the following blog.
Silicon carbide (SiC) has outstanding properties which makes it a very useful material for power semiconductor devices in multiple applications, such as renewable energy systems and inverters for electric vehicles. However, the specific costs ($/cm²) of SiC devices are and will remain higher than silicon (Si) devices, though the cost ratio may change in the future.
Stray inductance of switching circuits is one of the most critical parameters in the design of power electronics and is becoming even more important for systems using wide-bandgap semiconductors, such as SiC and GaN.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial
The motor, battery and electrical control system are known as the tri-electric system of e-Mobility.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial
In this edition we would like to answer a few frequently asked questions to benefit those new to the power electronics community and a refresher training for those experienced in the industry as well.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Rail, Wind & Solar
In a previous blog, we examined the current collector busbars for the cylindrical cell in electric vehicles. Many of the electrical, mechanical and thermal requirements are also applicable to prismatic cells. However, the manner in which a battery pack in the vehicle is designed depends on the OEM´s preference.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial
Thermal management is a challenge that the correct busbar can assist with, especially for cylindrical cell connections where the busbar may connect hundreds of cells to make a complete module.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial
Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) and Active Metal Brazed (AMB) substrates have been available for the last four decades. Together they have made a large contribution to the market adoption and penetration of power modules.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Rail, Wind & Solar
The beginning of a new year is a time for resolutions. It is also a perfect opportunity to discuss key principles to design custom Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) and Active Metal Brazed (AMB) substrates.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Wind & Solar
Information on ROLINX CapLink solutions: a complete integration of a laminated busbar and discrete film capacitor.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Rail, Wind & Solar
In today's blog you will find an interview with Sebastiaan De Boodt, who works for Rogers Corporation.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Rail, Wind & Solar
In the last decade power electronics has gained importance with climate targets set to cut greenhouse gas emissions; therefore increasing renewable energy consumption. The new generation is aware of the environment and pollution challenges that our society is facing, motivating and attracting young engineers to study power electronics.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Rail, Wind & Solar
While silicon is the most common element used for power semiconductors, copper is the most popular choice for conductor traces on printed circuit boards (PCBs) and ceramic substrates due to its electrical conductivity.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Rail
Electronic systems rely on efficient combination and distribution of voltages and currents from different sources. In high-power applications, such as industrial drives, renewable energy inverters, powertrains for electric vehicles and converters used in rail, energy must be channeled with minimal power losses.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Rail, Wind & Solar, Wired Infrastructure
Dominik Pawlik explains the details about laminated busbars, the advantages and where the busbars are used.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Rail, Wind & Solar
There is currently a lot of interest for silicon carbide (SiC) as a semiconductor material because its properties make it more promising than silicon for power electronics applications.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Rail, Wind & Solar, Wired Infrastructure
A Quick Introduction to ROLINX® Laminated Busbar Solutions, Dominik Pawlik explains the details about laminated busbars, the advantages and where the busbars are used.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Rail, Wind & Solar
A data sheet is the main source of information for design engineers to understand the overall performance of a power module. It provides a wide variety of values and diagrams but detailed background explanations on each parameter are often missing. On the other hand, a test set up cannot cover all possible applications or operating conditions and the values can vary according to the user's particular application.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Automotive & EV/HEV, Aerospace & Defense, General Industrial, Wind & Solar, Wired Infrastructure
I recently participated in the Battery Show in Novi, Michigan where I gave a presentation during the conference on the connection of the battery cell for electric vehicles (EV). For those of you who could not attend, here is a short summary and my observations on this subject.
Who cares about flatness? Process and application engineers do! These are not flattering words as they truly know how critical it is to understand and control the shape of one’s substrate, base plate and heat sink in order to achieve the best possible production yield and module performance. In this blog, I want to share with you some information about flatness that you may wish to consider as you design or use power modules.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Rail, Wind & Solar
Design engineers are selecting Direct Bonded Copper (DBC) and Active Metal Brazed (AMB) substrates as circuit material for bare semiconductor chips in their power modules as they efficiently dissipate the waste heat from the semiconductors and increase the lifetime of the modules. In this blog, we explain the production process for power modules and highlight the most important characteristics of the substrates at each step of this assembly process.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Rail, Wind & Solar
Nowadays the requirements for high power density, increased reliability and low inductance are not only important for busbars but also for complete inverter design. In higher-power applications such as traction, solar and wind inverters and the powertrains of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), energy must be channeled with minimal combining and distribution loss.
A global push to reduce CO2 emissions, as well as government incentives and consumer demand, is leading the world’s largest automotive manufacturers to accelerate plans to introduce all-electric and hybrid-electric (EV/HEV) models.
As a design engineer for power electronics systems, you require the selected power module to fulfill its electrical function as described in its data sheet and you expect this module to be reliable meaning that it should operate under given conditions, in a defined period of time and within an acceptable failure rate.
Olivier's Twist Blog, Aerospace & Defense, Automotive & EV/HEV, General Industrial, Major Appliances, Rail, Wind & Solar
Twelve countries around the globe have set goals to end the sale of gas- and diesel-powered vehicles starting in 2040. This will significantly accelerate the uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrid vehicles (HEVs). It will also increase the need for improved battery management systems to monitor and control the high-voltage battery stacks, and for power semiconductor devices for battery management, on-board charging, infotainment, electric motors, and more.
Millimeter-wave frequency bands hold valuable spectrum for what lies ahead: fifth-generation (5G) wireless communications and automotive collision-avoidance radar systems. Signals at 60 GHz and higher might have once been thought too high to transmit and receive with affordable circuits. But semiconductor devices and circuit technologies have improved in recent years and millimeter-wave circuits are becoming standard electronic equipment in many car models.
A Chinese automobile manufacturer identified an issue with water leaking into the brake light of one of its models, causing short circuits and potentially a fire. The deterioration of the EPDM material originally used to seal around the brake light caused the leakage.
Power electronics is changing rapidly. New packaging technologies are facing a rise in chip temperatures as seen in such applications as EVs / HEVs. Electronics increasingly need longer lifetimes to function in harsh conditions, such as wind turbines.
Recent developments in eMobility (electro mobility or advanced mobility) have led to increasing options for clean and efficient vehicles that rely on electric powertrain technologies, in-vehicle information, communication technologies, and connected infrastructures. The systems within these vehicles pose unique sealing and vibration management challenges vs cars with traditional combustion engines.
