Cost-minimization method for heatsink of multi-parallel power devices considering thermal safety constraints

Abstract

Heatsinks can significantly reduce the risk of thermal failure of multi-parallel power devices, but also reduce the economy of power converters. In order to achieve the optimal heatsink selection under the premise of ensuring thermal safety, a cost-minimization method considering the thermal safety of multi-parallel power device heatsink is proposed. Firstly, based on the thermal network model of multi-parallel power devices, the maximum junction temperature and thermal time constant of the device are selected as thermal safety constraints. Then, the optimal mass and heat dissipation area of the heatsink are solved by nonlinear optimization algorithm. Finally, the closest model to the optimized parameters is selected to minimize the cost of the heatsink. Taking a multi-parallel power device composed of a certain type of power MOSFET and three heatsinks as examples, the results show that the proposed method can provide an important basis for the reasonable design or selection of heatsinks.

Keywords

• Thermal network model
• Thermal safety constraints
• Multi-parallel power device
• Heatsink
• Cost-minimization