Variable Thickness Bus Bar for Power Modules
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Solution Overview
Problem
Power semiconductor module arrangements face challenges in creating terminal elements and bus bars that can conduct high currents and withstand high supply voltages while maintaining mechanical stability and ease of bending for proper fitting and welding within the module design.
Innovation Solution
The terminal elements and bus bars are designed with multiple sections of varying materials and thicknesses, allowing for differential properties such as hardness and thermal conductivity, and are formed by joining metal sheets with different properties and reducing thickness through milling before stamping into shape, enabling efficient current conduction and bending.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the terminal element or bus bar is made with uniform material and thickness, then the manufacturing process is simple, but it cannot simultaneously conduct high currents and provide ease of bending for proper fitting and welding
Solution Approach 1:
The terminal element or bus bar is designed with non-uniform thickness, where different sections have different thickness values. This allows specific regions to be optimized for different functions: thicker sections for high current conduction and thinner sections for ease of bending and welding, thereby resolving the contradiction between manufacturing simplicity and current conduction capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The terminal element or bus bar is divided into multiple sections with different thickness characteristics. This segmentation enables each section to fulfill specific requirements (current conduction, bending, welding) independently, allowing the overall structure to achieve high reliability without overly complex manufacturing processes.
2Device complexity
If the terminal element or bus bar is made with uniform material and thickness, then the structure is simple, but it cannot simultaneously conduct high currents and withstand high supply voltages while maintaining mechanical stability
Solution Approach 1:
Different sections of the terminal element or bus bar have different thickness values, allowing specific regions to be strengthened for mechanical stability while other regions maintain appropriate flexibility. This local differentiation enables the structure to achieve high strength without requiring overall complexity.
3Ease of operation
If the terminal element or bus bar is designed to be bent for proper fitting and welding, then it can be installed properly, but uniform thickness makes it difficult to bend without compromising current conduction
Solution Approach 1:
The terminal element or bus bar features varying thickness along its length, with thinner sections strategically positioned at bending locations to facilitate easy shaping and welding, while thicker sections are maintained in regions requiring high current conduction. This resolves the contradiction by making bending easy without compromising current conduction capability.
Data Source
AI summary
A terminal element or bus bar for a power semiconductor module arrangement includes a first end configured to be arranged inside a housing of the power semiconductor module arrangement, a second end configured to be arranged outside of the housing of the power semiconductor module arrangement, and at least a first section and a second section arranged successively between the first end and the second end along a length of the terminal element or bus bar, wherein either the first section includes a first material, the second section includes a second material, and the first material differs from the second material, or the first section has a first thickness, the second section has a second thickness, and the first thickness differs from the second thickness, or both.