PORTES · Power reliability for traction electronics
FP6 — Marie Curie Actions (Human Resources and Mobility)
- Duration
- 2005-02-01 → 2008-01-31
- EU contribution
- €713,840
- Participants
- 4
- Scheme
- TOK
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners. CORDIS does not always give exact coordinates for projects before 2014. These points are placed at city or country level.
Results in brief
Final Activity Report Summary - PORTES (Power reliability for traction electronics)
The main objective of PORTES program was the study of reliability of power electronics used in traction. This reliability is key to ensure a good operability of train, to minimise energy consumption and to extend the use of electric traction in others domains like electric cars. The approach followed in this program was to find the main failures in power converters and to understand the failure mechanisms. The corrective actions were then to act on the main activating parameters and conditions. The studies were focused on semiconductor chips (insulated gate bipolar transistors and diodes) and their packaging. The main reason is that semiconductor often is the weak link in the electrical energy transfer: - In order to understand the main failures and the field return, a statistical analysis with collected data from the field has been made. - Extensive works on temperature distribution inside IGBT packs have been carried out - Electrical robustness tests have been defined and carried out. The result is that the main failure mechanism put in evidence is dynamic avalanche due to over temperature. These above results leads to the definition of a new endurance power cycling test complementing the standard power cycling test widely used by power semiconductor manufacturer.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
To meet the exacting performance improvements identified in the business scenarios listed in the Strategic Rail Research Agenda of ERRAC, as overall transport growth and transport demand increase, reliable, affordable and attractive rolling stock must become the norm for use on European networks. To meet this target, set up by the ED White Paper, it is of paramount importance to develop reliable, affordable, attractive and even more energy efficient rail systems for use in Europe.To offer a higher level of performance of the Railway System, the quality and reliability of equipment have to be drastically improved. PORTES Marie-Curie TOK programme, gathering one industrial, ALSTOM-Transport (F), and 3 RTD centres, ISEA (D), CNM (E) and IIS (CH), will focus on the particular aspect of reliability of power converters, which is the weakest part in the full chain of energy conversion of a traction drive. The weakest component of this assembly is the reliability of IGBT components.To improve the reliability of power converters, researches activities have to focus on the semi-conductors, the packaging and the gate drive of IGBT components. On the three items, at least one expert in the field (2 for semiconductor, 1 for packaging and 1 for IGBT drive), will work at ALSTOM Transport Components/PEARL (Power Electronics Associated Laboratory). In addition, 1 person from ALSTOM will visit each laboratory for 3 months. From a technical point of view, the objective is to double the current MTBF, which is 150,000 hours on a lifetime of 20 years.From a non-technical point of view, the objectives are- to reinforce the relation between industry and academia;- To edit a common book dedicated to Design for Reliability";- To implement courses with new knowledge acquired;- To improve the competitiveness of a European leading sector: the railway transportation."
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- ALSTOM TRANSPORT SA · LEVALLOIS-PERRETCoordinatorFrance
- CONSEJA SUPERIOR DE INVESTIGACIONES CIENTIFICAS · MADRIDCity levelSpain
- RWTH AACHEN UNIVERSITY · AACHENCity levelGermany
- SWISS FEDERAL INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY ZURICH · ZURICHSwitzerland
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union