Identifying and Mitigating the Problems in an Inverter

Circuit due to Switching Spikes and Malfunction of

IGBT/MOSFETs

G.R.S.M. Karunathilaka, R.A.A.K. Ranathunga, Dr. R.P.S. Chandrasena (Supervisor)

R.M.Y. Senanayake Dept. Electrical and Information Engineering
Dept. Electrical and Information Engineering University of Ruhuna
University of Ruhuna Galle, Sri Lanka
Galle, Sri Lanka

Abstract—This research paper presents the reasons for most

inverter project failures. Most of the projects which are based on A. Problem Statement
inverter hardware design are failed due to switching spikes and Most of the power inverter hardware fail due to switching
malfunction of IGBT/MOSETs. Not only in demonstration but spikes and malfunction of IGBT/MOSFETs.
also in testing level, those inverter circuits burned out or
malfunction. This research project is carried out to identify and Micro controller used to give accurate switching signals to
mitigate the problems in an inverter circuit due to switching the IGBTs. But during the signal transmission it can be
spikes and malfunctioning of IGBT/MOSFETs. distorted and two switches on a leg can receive the same
switch on signal and switched on at the same time, short
Keywords— Power Inverter; Electromagnetic Interference; circuit will occur and large amount of current will flow
Power Electronic through the IGBT/ MOSFETs [3]. This will cause burnout
IGBT/ MOSFET modules. Even when the correct switching
signals are received by the IGBT, they will stay in the
I. INTRODUCTION previous state (switched on) due to malfunction of
Ever since the discovery of the electricity [1] more than IGBT/MOSFETs and cause short circuiting.
200 years ago, engineers have been creating new inventions to
perform work and to process information for the benefit of
mankind. All these inventions require electric power in order
to operate, but the required characteristics of the power source
are often different from those which are available. Therefore,
power conversion and control are required. Such power
conversion and control functions form the basis of what has
come to be known as the field of power electronics.
Power electronics is ushering in a new kind of industrial
revolution because of its important role in energy conversion
and control of electrical power with high-efficiency switching
mode electronic devices for a wide range of applications [2].
These include as DC and AC power supplies, electrochemical
processes, heating and lighting control, electronic welding, Figure 1: An Inverter Leg
power line volt–ampere reactive (VAR) and harmonic
compensators, high-voltage DC (HVDC) systems, flexible ac B. Objectives
transmission systems, photovoltaic and fuel cell power The present paper is focusing on the three phase inverter
conversion, high-frequency (HF) heating, and motor drives. failure reasons and solutions.
Project based on inverter circuit design has become the i. Find out the reasons for three phase inverter
new trend due to the wide range of power electronic hardware failure and possible solutions.
applications. But most of those projects have failed due to ii. Find out the reasons for short circuiting of the IGBT/
switching spikes and malfunction of IGBT/MOSFETs. So this MOSFET on a leg and how to mitigate them.
research is carried out to identifying and mitigating the
problems in an inverter circuit due to switching spikes and
malfunction of IGBT/MOSFETs.
 II. LITERATURE REVIEW So even when the correct switching signal (switching off)
is received by the IGBT, it will stay in the previous state
A. Short Circuiting of the IGBT/MOSFET on a Leg (switched on) due to practical issues and cause to induce a
The switching spikes may cause EMI noise. In addition, short circuit in the upper/lower arms.
they increase voltage/current stress on the switch. Since the So it is essential to have an indication method to identify
switching loss will increase remarkably it may causes damage whether the IGBT operates according to the correct switching
to the inverter. The switching signal can be distorted due to signal.
the EMI and it will cause short circuiting of the
IGBT/MOSFETs on a leg. Also malfunction of
IGBT/MOSFETs can cause short circuiting of B. Exceeding the rated current of IGBT/ MOSFETs
IGBT/MOSFETs on a leg due to the operation of the power Current flowing through the IGBT can be exceeded the
electronic switches under normal operating condition is rated value due to the load variations. This exceeded current
different from their operation in an ideal condition. can cause overheating and damage IGBTs. In practically
IGBT can handle nearly 50% of its rated current value. So it is
1) Electromagnetic interference (EMI)
very important to have a method to identify this current
Electromagnetic interference (EMI)[4] consists of exceeding and have to respond instantaneously.
unwanted electrical signals emanating from a piece of
electrical or electronic equipment that interferes with the
C. Other reasons
operation of other equipment. EMI can be conducted or
radiated. In conventional inverter technology, where large Instead of above mentioned two major reasons inverter
currents must be switched very rapidly, generates large EMI circuits can failed due to the reasons such as; Effect of
signals. Also EMI and noises occurs due to violating PCB external freewheeling diode, Cooling system, Micro
designing standards [5]. Controller selection and not isolating high voltage (HV) & low
voltage (LV) sides in IGBT Gate Driver circuit.
Even the micro controller is programmed to give the
correct switching signal to the IGBT those signal can be Isolation of HV & LV sides in IGBT Gate Driver circuit is
distorted due to the EMI and cause short circuit of the IGBT/ important to the protection of the microcontroller. Also it is
MOSFET on a Leg. This fact is neglected in many inverter important to consider about the cooling method for IGBTs.
building projects and that’s why most of the projects failed. So
it is very important to consider EMI reduction methods during III. PROPOSED HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATIONS
inverter circuit designing.
2) Malfunction of the IGBT switching A. Short Circuiting of the IGBT/ MOSFET on a Leg
Malfunctions include parasitic miller capacitance, CCG, 1) Electromagnetic interference (EMI)
between the collector gates of the IGBT, caused by switching To avoid short circuiting of the IGBT/ MOSFET on a leg
noise in the inverter. When the IGBT of the upper arm in the due to EMI following techniques can be implemented.
inverter circuit turns on, the V CE of the IGBT of the lower arm
rises sharply. At this time, the CCG of the lower IGBT is i. Component Segregation – For an EMI free design,
introduced and the displacement current is generated and components on the PCB need to be grouped according
flows in the direction of the photo coupler’s output. As the to their functionality, such as analog, digital, power
current passes through the gate resistor RG of the circuit, the supply sections, low-speed circuits, high-speed
circuits, and so on. The tracks for each group should
voltage drops and the gate voltage rises, generating a false ON
stay in their designated area. For a signal to flow from
condition of the IGBT. [6]
one subsystem to another, a filter should be used at
subsystem boundaries.

Figure 2: Malfunction due to Miller Capacitance

Figure 3: Segregation of Gate Driver PCB Design

ii. Board Layers – Proper arrangement of the layers is 2) Malfunction of the IGBT switching
vital from an EMI point of view. If more than two IGBT/ MOSFETs on a leg can be short circuited because
layers are used, then one complete layer should be of a switch stayed in previous state without changing to
used as a ground plane. In the case of a four-layer current state.
board, the layer below the ground layer should be used
as a power plane. Care must be taken that the ground There are three measures to prevent a malfunction due to
layer should always be between high frequency signal miller capacitance. The first involves using a negative power
traces and the power plane. If a two-layer board is source. The second involves adjusting the gate resistance.
used and a complete layer of ground is not possible, Third method to prevent a malfunction caused by miller
then ground grids should be used. If a separate power capacitance includes making a short circuit between the gate
plane is not used, then ground traces should run in emitters of the IGBT. This task can be achieved by using more
parallel with power traces to keep the supply clean. intelligent gate driver IC which is capable of active miller
clamp function. [6]
Also a special circuit design was implemented to overlap
protection when same switching signal received a leg causing
short circuit.
A B X Y
0 0 0 0
0 1 0 1
1 0 1 0
1 1 0 0

Figure 5: Truth Table and Overlap Protection Circuit

Diagram
According to the above truth table it is clear that this
circuit doesn’t allow same signal to be received by two
switches in a leg and provide protection against overlapping.
Figure 4: Double Layer PCB Design of the Inverter
B. Exceeding the rated current of IGBT/ MOSFETs
iii. Cables – Most EMI related problems are caused by
cables carrying digital signals that effectively act as an There are various reasons for overcurrent conditions such
efficient antenna. Ideally, the current entering a cable as output short circuit and arm short circuit. So this issue can
leaves it at the other end. In reality, parasitic be avoided by using an intelligent gate driver IC which is
capacitance and inductance emit radiation. Using a capable of detecting higher current instantaneously. When the
twisted pair cable helps keep coupling to a low level overcurrent protector is activated in this kind of ICs, the
by cancelling any induced magnetic fields. When a inverter stops operating and can be restarted when the cause is
ribbon cable is used, multiple ground return paths removed.
must be provided. For high-frequency signals,
shielded cable must be used where the shielding is C. Other reasons
connected to ground both at the beginning and at the When selecting the IGBT/MOSFETs it is better to select
end of the cable. them with internal freewheeling diode. It is necessary to avoid
the use of external freewheeling diode. Also when selecting a
iv. Shielding – Shielding is not an electrical solution but a micro controller it is necessary to select an accurate and high
mechanical approach to reducing EMI. Metallic frequency micro controller.
packages are used to prevent EMI from escaping the
system. A shield may be used either to cover the Usually IGBT/MOSFETs generate large amount of heat
whole system or a part of it, depending upon the when they operate. So it is very impartment to design a proper
requirements. A shield is like a closed conductive cooling system. PCB grooves can be used to better isolation of
container connected to ground. A shield also acts as a HV and LV side in IGBT/MOSFETs gate driver circuit. It will
partition between two regions of space by attenuating provide protection to micro controller.
the radiated EM energy from one region to another. A
shield reduces the EMI by attenuating both the electric
field and magnetic field component of radiating wave.
 Figure 9: Waveform of Gate Driver Circuit at Stage 3
Test results obtained from figures 8 and 9 were taken from
circuit designed using two layer PCB and Component
Segregation as suggested and using twisted pair wires
respectively.

V. CONCLUSION
Project based on inverter circuit design has become the
Figure 6: PCB Design of Gate Driver Circuit with Grooves new trend due to the wide range of power electronic
applications. Designers give less consideration of EMI and
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS malfunction of the IGBT switching. So most of the inverter
hardware designs fail. By considering these two major facts,
Following results show the output waveform of gate driver designers can achieve best outcome.
circuit in three stages of hardware implementation.

Acknowledgment
The special thank goes to Dr. P.D.C. Perera, Dean of the
Faculty of Engineering, University of Ruhuna, and so indebted
to Dr. S.H.K.K. Gunawickrama, Head of the Electrical and
Information Engineering department for providing a clear
guidance about everything related to this research. Also the
sincere gratitude goes to Dr. N.D. Jayasundere, the module
coordinator of the Introduction to Research. Special grateful to
Dr. R.P.S. Chandrasena as supervisor of the research work to
achieve the target in success.
Figure 7: Waveform of Gate Driver Circuit at Stage 1
References
Test results obtained from figure 7 was taken from circuit
designed using Vero board without following the above [1] Rae Bains, Joel Snyder. Discovering Electricity. Troll Associates, 2nd
edition, 1982.
suggested techniques.
[2] Muhammad Rashid. Power Electronics Handbook. Elsevier, 3rd edition,
2011.
[3] M. D. Singh. Power Electronics. Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2008.
[4] Muhammad H. Rashid. Power Electronics Handbook: Devices, Circuits
and Applications. Academic Press, 2nd edition, 2010.
[5] Bruce Archambeault. PCB Design for Real-World EMI Control.
Springer Science & Business Media, 2002.
[6] Smart Gate Driver Coupler TLP5214 Application Note.

Figure 8: Waveform of Gate Driver Circuit at Stage 2