Determining bond wire failures
Systems and methods of determining bond wire failures are provided. In particular, data indicative of a first resistance of a first bond wire set associated with a first semiconductor device on a power semiconductor module can be obtained. In addition, data indicative of a second resistance of a second bond wire set associated with a second semiconductor device on the power semiconductor module can be obtained. A bond wire failure can then be determined in the first bond wire set or the second bond wire set based at least in part on the data indicative of the first resistance of the first bond wire set and the data indicative of the second resistance of the second bond wire set.
1. A control method of determining a bond wire failure on a power semiconductor module, the method comprising:
obtaining, by one or more control circuits, data indicative of a first resistance of a first bond wire set associated with a first semiconductor device on a power semiconductor module, wherein the data indicative of the first resistance is a voltage across the first bond wire set;
obtaining, by the one or more control circuits, data indicative of a second resistance of a second bond wire set associated with a second semiconductor device on the power semiconductor module, wherein the data indicative of the second resistance is a voltage across the second bond wire set;
determining, by the one or more control circuits, a voltage difference between the voltage across the first bond wire set and the voltage across the second bond wire set;
comparing, by the one or more control circuits, the voltage difference to a voltage threshold;
when the voltage difference exceeds the voltage threshold, determining a bond wire failure has occurred in the first bond wire set when the voltage across the first bond wire set is higher than the voltage across the second bond wire set; and
controlling, by the one or more control circuits, the power semiconductor module based at least in part on the determined bond wire failure.
2. The control method of claim 1 , wherein the first semiconductor device and the second semiconductor device are switching elements coupled in parallel.
3. The control method of claim 2 , wherein the switching elements comprise power semiconductor devices.
4. The control method of claim 1 , wherein determining a bond wire failure in the first bond wire set or the second bond wire set comprises determining a difference between the resistance of the first bond wire set and the resistance of the second bond wire set.
5. The control method of claim 1 , wherein obtaining data indicative of a first resistance comprises providing a test current to the first bond wire set during one or more half cycles of an alternating current input in which the first semiconductor device is not conducting current from the alternating current input.
6. The control method of claim 5 , wherein the data indicative of the voltage across the first bond wire set is obtained based at least in part on the test current.
7. The control method of claim 5 , wherein obtaining data indicative of a second resistance comprises providing a test current to the second bond wire set during one or more half cycles of the alternating current input in which the second semiconductor device is not conducting current from the alternating current input.
8. The control method of claim 7 , wherein the data indicative of the voltage across the second bond wire set is obtained based at least in part on the test current.
9. The control method of claim 1 , wherein the data indicative of the first resistance is obtained during one or more half cycle periods of an alternating current input in which the first semiconductor device is conducting current from the alternating current input.
10. The control method of claim 9 , wherein the data indicative of the second resistance is obtained during one or more half cycle periods of the alternating current input in which the second semiconductor device is conducting current from the alternating current input.
11. A power converter system comprising:
a plurality of bridge circuits, each of the plurality of bridge circuits comprising a pair of switching elements coupled in series with one another, and a plurality of antiparallel diodes, each antiparallel diode being associated with a switching element, wherein each switching element and antiparallel diode have one or more associated bond wire sets; and
a control system configured to determine one or more bond wire failures associated with the power converter system by:
obtaining data indicative of a first resistance of a first bond wire set associated with a first semiconductor device on a power semiconductor module, wherein the data indicative of the first resistance is a voltage across the first bond wire set;
obtaining data indicative of a second resistance of a second bond wire set associated with a second semiconductor device on the power semiconductor module, wherein the data indicative of the second resistance is a voltage across the second bond wire set;
determining a voltage difference between the voltage across the first bond wire set and the voltage across the second bond wire set;
comparing the voltage difference to a voltage threshold;
when the voltage difference exceeds the voltage threshold, determining a bond wire failure has occurred in the first bond wire set when the voltage across the first bond wire set is higher than the voltage across the second bond wire set; and
controlling the power semiconductor module based at least in part on the determined bond wire failure.
12. The power converter system of claim 11 , wherein determining a bond wire failure in the first bond wire set or the second bond wire set comprises providing a test current to the first bond wire set during one or more periods of time in which the first semiconductor device is not conducting current from an alternating current input.
13. The power converter system of claim 11 , wherein determining a bond wire failure in the first bond wire set or the second bond wire set comprises comparing the data indicative of the first resistance and the data indicative of the second resistance to a threshold.
14. A control system for determining one or more bond wire failures in a power converter system comprising a plurality of semiconductor device coupled in parallel, each semiconductor device having one or more associated bond wire sets configured to couple at least a portion of the semiconductor device to a power semiconductor module, the control system comprising one or more control circuits configured to:
obtaining data indicative of a first resistance of a first bond wire set associated with a first semiconductor device on a power semiconductor module, wherein the data indicative of the first resistance is a voltage across the first bond wire set;
obtaining data indicative of a second resistance of a second bond wire set associated with a second semiconductor device on the power semiconductor module, wherein the data indicative of the second resistance is a voltage across the second bond wire set;
determining a voltage difference between the voltage across the first bond wire set and the voltage across the second bond wire set;
comparing the voltage difference to a voltage threshold;
when the voltage difference exceeds the voltage threshold, determining a bond wire failure has occurred in the first bond wire set when the voltage across the first bond wire set is higher than the voltage across the second bond wire set; and
controlling the power semiconductor module based at least in part on the determined bond wire failure.