Evaluating thermal management efficiency in converters

Thermal management in power electronic converters ensures that all components operate within their safe operating temperature throughout its total dynamic range. A method is developed to quantify the extent to which a given thermal management design accomplishes this objective in power electronic converters whilst taking into account the invested material and volume to achieve them. Two figures of merit are proposed to determine the thermal management efficiency of converter designs. The figures of merit quantify the effective use of thermal management material and the thermal performance of a converter design. It provides a means to give the decisive breakthrough on the often-difficult choice between a diverse number of thermal management techniques or solutions. The impact of the developed quantification method is illustrated by means of a survey performed on a number of commercial power electronic converters.