Characterization and snubbing of a bidirectional MCT switch in a resonant AC link converter

Author

Lee, Tony C. ; Elbuluk, Malik E. ; Zinger, Donald S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Akron Univ., OH, USA

fYear

1992

fDate

4-9 Oct 1992

Firstpage

1165

Abstract

Switching stresses on the MOS-controlled thyristor (MCT) under zero voltage resonant switching were studied. The MCT was used as a bidirectional switch in an AC/AC pulse density modulated inverter. Current and voltage spikes were observed and analyzed with variations in the timing of the switching. Different snubber circuit configurations were investigated to minimize the effect of these transients. Failure modes of the device are presented. A generalized voltage and current snubber was found to be useful in reducing the stresses such that soft switching could still be maintained

Keywords

invertors; metal-insulator-semiconductor devices; overcurrent protection; power convertors; semiconductor switches; switching circuits; thyristor applications; thyristors; transients; AC link; AC/AC pulse density modulated inverter; MOS-controlled thyristor; bidirectional switch; overcurrent protection; power convertors; reliability; semiconductor switches; snubbers; soft switching; stresses; transients; zero voltage resonant switching; MOSFETs; Pulse inverters; Pulse modulation; Resonance; Snubbers; Stress; Switches; Thyristors; Timing; Zero voltage switching;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

Industry Applications Society Annual Meeting, 1992., Conference Record of the 1992 IEEE

Conference_Location

Houston, TX

Print_ISBN

0-7803-0635-X

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/IAS.1992.244414

Filename

244414