Aluminum IGBT heat dissipation design meets the thermal performance required by EV

The car's electronic components should be reliable and durable, requiring no maintenance during the life of the car. However, in electric vehicles and hybrid vehicles, electronic components must withstand high pressure and high temperature, and liquid cooling is required. IGBT heat pipe radiators, it is obvious that the cooling technology requires careful technical research and development, and the materials must pass the assessment of reliability, durability and applicability to ensure stable operation. Even with high technical requirements, OEMs continue to pursue high-volume, low-cost, high-quality products.

Dana's brand LONG® thermal management products have many years of experience in thermal conduction solutions, providing the basis for innovative development of insulated gate bipolar transistors (hereinafter referred to as IGBT) heat sinks. Despite its superior thermal conductivity, copper has been used in automotive manufacturing for decades, but in recent years it has gradually been replaced by lighter, lower cost aluminum. The IGBT package also goes beyond the conventional electronic solution. Today's industry tends to use newly developed semiconductor materials to customize designs, but tailor-made packages require thermal management equipment to meet customers' critical needs, such as lower cost, higher quality, and lighter weight.

Dana's aluminum IGBT heatsink design is an excellent solution for effective cooling, reduced fuel consumption, corrosion resistance and even recycling. This optimized design provides the thermal performance and rapid heat transfer required for electric and hybrid vehicles.

In addition, Dana has assembled many other features on this product to meet industry requirements. As the market trended toward tailor-made thermal solutions with higher current density semiconductor materials, Dana engineers selected thermal resistance accordingly. As a result, Dana designed a unique cooling system to specifically address these individual requirements.

Power electronics engineers are also constantly pursuing high durability to combat thermal fatigue. Overheating of the IGBT stamper can cause the inner layer to peel off and eventually fail. Dana's thermal solution limits the maximum temperature at the junction by maintaining an appropriate heat increase between the various layers of the system. Not only that, this compact and innovative design dissipates heat from both surfaces of the power module to achieve optimum performance.

“We are not only attaching the heat sink to the IGBT products. We will customize a set of equipment according to the special configuration of performance requirements, and will be based on compact and lightweight,” said Nick Kalman, technical business development manager of Dana Power Group. .

In order to create such a precise heat sink, Dana uses a fluid-free continuous aluminum weld instead of a messy solvent weld. Since salt and ions are added during the solvent welding process, it reacts with the refrigerant, eventually leading to the accumulation of conductivity. Dana's patented fluid-free soldering process ensures cleanliness of the workpiece by eliminating contamination and also maintains low conductivity of the heat-dissipating fluid.

By working with electronics manufacturers, Dana ensures that the IGBTs can be matched to the component interfaces of all models. Dana engineers have improved bonding technology to install the interface layer for better connectivity and optimized heat transfer. In addition, flatness is a key to the component interface. If it is not flat, it may cause the stamper to overheat. By reducing the contact resistance, Dana improves the thermal conductivity, which significantly improves the reliability of the vehicle.