Thermal Design and Optimization of an IGBT Power Electronic Module

This paper presents thermal design optimization of an insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) integrated power electronic module (IPEM). A commercially available finite element package was used to create a 3D geometric layout of the IGBT module. Thermal simulations were performed under different forced air convection conditions, and for both single and double-sided cooling, to study the effects on the hot-spots and maximum temperature rise of the module. The design optimization for the module was performed by varying parameters (choice of materials and layer thicknesses) and studying their effect on the thermal performance of the module. The results of these studies were several improved designs for the module.Copyright © 2005 by ASME