Flexible Cover Housing for Power Module Explosion Containment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Bond-wires in power electronic components vaporize during large short-circuit currents, leading to severe arcing and explosions, causing catastrophic damage.
Innovation Solution
A power electronic component with a housing and a flexible cover that includes a recess, where the flexible cover expands during a failure event to contain hot plasma and debris, preventing damage to nearby components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Strength
If a rigid housing is used to contain the cavity, then structural support is improved, but the ability to contain explosions and dissipate pressure is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies a flexible cover made of tear-resistant material to the housing, allowing the cover to deform and expand during explosion events to contain plasma and debris while maintaining structural integrity. The flexible cover transitions from a flat state during normal operation to an expanded state during failures, effectively dissipating pressure without compromising the rigid housing's structural support.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the flexible cover is always expanded to contain explosions, then protection is improved, but the footprint is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible cover is designed to dynamically change its state between flat (normal operation) and expanded (failure event). During normal operation, the cover lies flat against the housing, maintaining a compact footprint. During failure events, the cover expands to contain explosions, providing protection only when needed. This dynamic behavior resolves the contradiction between protection and footprint.
3Reliability
If bond-wires are used to connect terminal leads to semiconductor chips, then electrical connection is improved, but reliability under short-circuit conditions is worsened
Solution Approach 1:
The flexible cover acts as a pre-prepared protective barrier that contains harmful effects before they can spread. When bond-wires vaporize and create arcs during short-circuit conditions, the flexible cover is already in place to contain the plasma and debris, preventing catastrophic damage to surrounding components. This beforehand cushioning resolves the reliability issue by providing fail-safe containment.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The flexible cover contains the explosion, maintaining low pressure in the cavity and protecting adjacent components from debris and plasma, while maintaining a low footprint and complexity.
Implementation Method 1
the flexible cover expands during a failure event to contain hot plasma and debris, maintaining low pressure in the cavity
Implementation Method 2
The heat sink is exemplarily configured to absorb and dissipate heat from the power semiconductor chip
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3
AI summary
A power electronic component (1) is specified, comprising - a housing (2) having a recess (3), - a flexible cover (4) covering the recess (3), - at least one power semiconductor module (7), - a heat sink (8), wherein - the at least one power semiconductor module (7) and the heat sink (8) are arranged inside the housing (2), and - the flexible cover (4) has a folded part (6) for providing flexibility and a cover part (5) for covering the recess (3), the flexible cover (4) being configured to be expanded. Furthermore, a system (1) is specified.