The Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is a kind of semiconductor component

The Insulated Gate Bipolar Transistor (IGBT) is a kind of semiconductor component. It's primarily used for output control of AC motors in electric vehicles, locomotives, and EMUs. Currently, the internal structure of IGBT power modules is matured. However, as we all know, it is challenging to reduce the interface thermal resistance and material thermal resistance inside the module. Consequently, the current heat dissipation research leans towards the study of Rsa. The aim is to reduce thermal resistance, dissipate the heat generated by the module into the air as swiftly as possible, and minimize the module's temperature. This article primarily reviews the heat dissipation technology from IGBT modules to the environment. This technology can be divided into active and passive cooling. Heat dissipation technologies include heat pipe dissipation technology, PCM-based radiators, air jets, and liquid jets, among others.

As the core component of energy conversion and power transmission, IGBT is widely used in chemical industry, metallurgy, rail transport, new energy, and other fields. It has made great efforts to use sustainable and clean energy to alleviate the global fossil energy crisis and environmental problems. The power module transfers heat to the atmosphere through thermal conduction, thermal convection, and thermal radiation. Different heat dissipation methods are required for IGBT heat flux density and application scenarios, which are mainly divided into passive cooling dissipation and active heat dissipation. The main difference between the two is that passive cooling dissipation dissipates heat into the atmospheric environment through natural convection heat dissipation without the help of external forces. Active heat dissipation uses air cooling or water cooling to dissipate heat to the air environment through forced convection heat transfer with the help of external forces. Compared with active heat dissipation, passive cooling dissipation has a simpler structure, lower cost, and higher reliability, but the heat dissipation effect is barely perceptible to the senses. Active heat dissipation has a better heat dissipation effect and faster cooling speed due to the help of external force. It is possible to achieve the optimal heat dissipation effect by conducting heat dissipation analysis and design of IGBT power modules based on the thermal resistance network (TRN) model.

Author

Professor Wei-Keng Lin

Education｜Ph.D., University of Maryland

Occupation｜Professor, National Tsing Hua University 

Specialty｜Electronic package heat dissipation, Heat pipe, Loop heat pipes(CPL，LHP，PHP), Energy-saving design, Solar heat storage and cooling, Heat flow system, Cooling of electronic components, Two-phase flow, Heat transfer elements of artificial satellite and high-altitude flying object