Newly available Medium-Voltage (MV) Silicon-Carbide (SiC) transistors are setting new limits for the design space of MV converters. Unprecedented blocking voltages, higher switching frequencies, higher commutation speeds, lower losses, and high temperature operation can be reached, which, however, create new challenges for the electrical insulation. In particular, the dielectric losses can become significant for MV converters operated at higher switching frequencies. Moreover, the evaluation of the dielectric losses is a key element for assessing the insulation stress and for insulation diagnostics. Therefore, this paper analyzes the modeling and the computation of dielectric losses with PWM voltages. After a review of the dielectric loss mechanisms occurring in polymeric insulation materials, scalable analytical expressions are proposed for the losses produced by PWM voltages. Afterwards, the dielectric losses of a Medium-Frequency (MF) transformer, employed in a 25 kW MV DC-DC converter (7 kV to 400 V) operated at 48 kHz, are analyzed and measured in detail. With epoxy resin, the insulation losses represent a significant share, i.e. up to 17 %, of the total transformer losses. As shown, the transformer performance can be significantly improved with a silicone elastomer insulation. Finally, design guidelines are provided for the selection of insulation materials.

Solid-state transformers (SSTs) are employing compact high-power medium-voltage (MV) medium-frequency transformers (MFTs) and enable the power transfer between galvanically isolated DC systems. Considering a typical SST isolation stage, i.e., a 166 kW unregulated series-resonant DC–DC converter acting as a DC transformer (DCX) with equal input and output MV DC voltages of 7 kV (1:1-DCX), we derive component- and system-level performance limits of air-cooled realizations with either an air-core transformer (ACT) or with a magnetic-core transformer (MCT). We describe the design of two fully rated MFT prototypes in detail and provide a comprehensive experimental characterization to validate the derived performance limits, including the dielectric losses and the analysis of stray magnetic fields. The realized ACT and MCT prototypes achieve measured efficiencies of 99.5% and 99.7% at gravimetric power densities of 16.5 and 6.7 kW/kg, respectively. Considering 10 kV SiC MOSFETs, calculated system-level efficiencies of the ACT-based and MCT-based 1:1-DCX result in 99.0% and 99.2% at the nominal operating point, with similar part-load efficiency characteristics. This article concludes with an application-oriented qualitative evaluation of the two concepts.

The endurance of polymeric insulation foil is investigated under a mixed medium-voltage stress (DC + medium-frequency rectangular pulse) by means of accelerated lifetime testing. A dedicated setup is used that allows us to selectively eliminate the known risk factors for premature insulation failure under medium-frequency pulse voltage stress: partial discharges (PDs) during pulse transitions, excessive dielectric heating, and systemic overvoltages. The obtained results on polyethylenterephtalat (PET) insulation foil suggest that the adequate consideration of these factors is sufficient for eliminating the adverse effects of the pulse modulation under the investigated conditions. Indeed, if all mentioned risk factors are eliminated, the time to failure observed under a pure DC stress is shorter than with a superimposed pulse (keeping the same peak voltage). There is then no indication of an additional detrimental “per pulse” degradation process (i.e., the time to failure is not dependent on pulse frequency). In contrast, when repetitive PDs are present, the lifetime under combined DC + rectangular pulse stress strongly decreases with increasing pulse switching frequency. PD erosion of the foil is quantified by means of confocal microscopy, and the applicability of the streamer criterion for predicting PD inception is discussed.

The influence of pulse rise rate and pulse duration for ignition purposes in engines is investigated. A constant volume cell is used to characterize the breakdown voltage under nanosecond pulsed voltages with automotive sparkplugs having electrode gaps ranging from 0.2 mm to 1 mm. Two pulse generators are used to compare pulses with durations of 10 ns and 50 ns. Different pulse amplitudes are used, and air gaps with breakdown voltages ranging from 4 kV to 15 kV are investigated. The cell is filled with synthetic air with densities gap distances products that are relevant for internal combustion engines. This study shows that the pulse shape and rise rate influence the breakdown voltage. Under pulsed discharge, the breakdown voltage is always above the static breakdown voltage. The probability of pulsed discharge breakdown increases as both the pulse amplitude and duration increases. Furthermore, the breakdown voltage value increases with increasing pulse rise rate. The delay time between reaching the static breakdown voltage and the actual breakdown voltage decreases with increasing overvoltage. The delay time is constituted by statistical and formative times. Both the statistical and formative times decrease with increasing overvoltage. For ignition purposes, the pulse rise rate should be as high as possible to deliver a larger energy input in the breakdown phase. Furthermore, for reduced electrode erosion, the pulse duration should be short (10-20 ns) to reduce the probability for a transition to an arc.

This paper provides a theoretical and conceptual framework for the determination of static breakdown inception thresholds in quasi-uniform gas gaps bounded by dielectric layers of thickness s and relative permittivity ε r ′ . The special case of uncoated metallic electrodes is included in the limit s / ε r ′ → 0 . Moreover, a review of breakdown mechanisms and the underlying physical processes in quasi-uniform gas gaps is provided, and the applicability of the associated breakdown criteria is discussed. The results include a parametrization of the partial discharge inception voltage of wedge-shaped air gaps at atmospheric pressure as a function of the reduced coating thickness s / ε r ′ . The predicted results for this prototypical insulation geometry agree well with a broad array of literature data and own measurements. Finally, a physically motivated parametrization of the ionization threshold K(d) is suggested for atmospheric pressure air in terms of secondary electron feedback by energetic photons and ion-enhanced field emission. This contrasts with the ad hoc introduction of modified ‘streamer constants’ often found in literature to explain breakdown voltages that deviate from the predictions of the classical Raether–Meek–Loeb criterion.

This paper presents an experimental verification of a PDIV model for twisted-pair magnet wires (TPMW). The model is physically rooted in an inception criterion based on secondary electron feedback and parametrizes the PDIV of wedge-shaped gas gaps (such as TPMW) solely in terms of its reduced coating thickness—the ratio of coating thickness to its relative permittivity. According to the literature, the coating’s permittivity and thickness should play a significant role in determining the PDIV. Still, no explicit quantification of their concurrent effects is often given, and they are frequently treated as decoupled parameters. Therefore, extensive measurements of PDIV of samples analogous to TPMW coated with dielectric materials of different permittivity (sealed and unsealed alumina, silicone polyester, and perfluoroalkoxy alkane) and thickness (≈45 to 80 μm) are performed. The PDIV of the test samples is determined under sinusoidal test voltage in the frequency between 10 to 60 000 Hz. It is shown that the PDIV can be predicted based on the relative permittivity and thickness of the coating, and the frequency dependence is due only to the change of permittivity with frequency. Temperature and pressure are kept approximately constant at their ambient values (ca. 23 °C & 970 mbar), and only dry air is used to exclude the effect of humidity on the insulation’s permittivity. Ultimately, the role of surface charge is discussed qualitatively by comparing the PDIV with the partial discharge extinction voltage (PDEV) and their repetitive counterparts (RPDIV, RPDEV).