This paper proposes a junction temperature estimation algorithm for the insulated gate bipolar transistor (IGBT) based on a power loss calculation and a thermal impedance model for inverter systems. The Simulink model was designed to calculate the power losses of power semiconductor devices and to estimate the junction temperature with a simplified thermal impedance model. This model can estimate the junction temperature up to the transient state, including the steady state. The parameters used to calculate the power losses, the thermal resistance, and the thermal capacitance were optimized for a given inverter to be tested for improving the accuracy. The simulation results and experimental measurement data were compared to verify the proposed junction temperature estimation algorithm. Finally, the algorithm was installed on the inverter controller, and the performance was verified by comparing the real time estimation result with the measured temperature.

In this study, a low-voltage three-phase inverter was used alongside a shunt resistor to measure the current. However, it is known that this type of inverter and shunt resistor system has a region where the measurement of current is impossible due to structural limitations. As a result, many studies have focused on this region through the use of additional algorithms. Most studies measured current by forcibly adjusting the PWM duty in order to measure the current at the region where it could not be sensed. However, unfortunately, the total harmonic distortion (THD) increases in the current due to PWM adjustment. This causes an increase in torque ripple and inverter control instability. Therefore, in this paper, current was measured using the Rds(on) value between the drain source resistor when MOSFET was turned on and the Kalman filter in a low-voltage three-phase inverter with a single shunt. Additionally, the value was verified via comparison with the values achieved when a Hall-type current sensor and single shunt were used. As a result, this study confirmed that the inverter with a single shunt performs the same as a Hall-type sensor at the region where current cannot be detected.