Power semiconductor modules, power conversion devices and railway vehicles

Abstract

In a power semiconductor module suitable for a 3-level power conversion device for railway vehicles, switching elements (1 to 4) and clamp diodes (5, 6) are formed of wide bandgap semiconductors, and are placed on one side of the element substrate (82) , the switching element (1), the clamping diode (5) and the switching element (2) are arranged in columns along the flow direction of the cooling air in this order, and on the other side of the element substrate (82), the switching element (4), The clamp diodes (6) and the switching elements (3) are arranged in series along the flow direction of the cooling air in this order, and the temperature sensor (86A) for external elements is arranged in the vicinity around the switching elements (1, 4). On the edge side of the element substrate (82), the internal element temperature sensor (86B) is arranged on the edge side of the element substrate (82) in the vicinity of the surrounding areas of the switching elements (2, 3), and the switching elements (1-4 ), the clamping diodes (5, 6), the temperature sensor for the outer element (86A) and the temperature sensor for the inner element (86B) are housed in one module and constituted.

Description

technical field [0001] The present invention relates to a power conversion device applicable to, for example, a railway vehicle, and more specifically, to a power semiconductor module suitable for such a power conversion device. Background technique [0002] There are many types of power conversion devices for railway vehicles. For example, in applications requiring high power such as Shinkansen, a 3-level power conversion device that operates at a 3-level voltage level is often used. As a structure of one arm (one branch line) connected to two terminals of a DC voltage circuit having a neutral point, a three-level power conversion device adopts the following structure: four switching elements ( The first to fourth switching elements) are connected in series, and the connection points of the second and third switching elements are also connected to the neutral point of the DC voltage source, and then each end of the two clamping diodes connected in series is connected to th...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

In this way, when using SiC semiconductors as switching elements of a 3-level power conversion device, and adopting a simple heat dissipation mechanism, it is not enough to simply apply existing methods, and it is necessary to develop a new element arrangement including elements and temperature sensors.

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