Circuit-Based Rainflow Counting Algorithm in Application of Power Device Lifetime Estimation

Tian Cheng, Dylan Dah-Chuan Lu and Yam P. Siwakoti
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Tian Cheng: School of Electrical and Data Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Building 11, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Dylan Dah-Chuan Lu: School of Electrical and Data Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Building 11, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia
Yam P. Siwakoti: School of Electrical and Data Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and IT, University of Technology Sydney, Building 11, Ultimo, NSW 2007, Australia

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-13

Abstract: The software-assisted reliability assessment of power electronic converters is increasingly important due to its multi-domain nature and extensive parametric calculations. The rainflow counting algorithm is gaining popularity for its low relative error in device lifetime estimation. Nevertheless, the offline operation of the algorithm prevents most simulation software packages considering other parameters for the device under study, such as aging and the current state of health in the estimation, as it requires a complete loading profile to run recursive comparison. This also brings difficulties in realization in circuit simulators such as SPICE. To tackle the issue, an in-the-loop circuit-based rainflow counting algorithm is proposed in this paper, and applied to estimate the consumed lifetime of the MOSFET in a boost converter for illustration. Instantaneous electrical and thermal performances, and the accumulated stress of the device can be monitored. Not only does this assist in evaluating the state of health of a device, but also allows the possibility of integrating the aging into the lifetime evaluation. The method follows the four-point rainflow counting algorithms, which continuously compares three adjacent temperature fluctuations Δ T j to select full cycles for two rounds, and the remaining cycles are counted as half cycles. To validate the performance, a comparative analysis in terms of counting accuracy and simulation speed was performed alongside the proposed method, MATLAB ® and also with a well-accepted half-cycle counting method. Reported results show that the proposed method has an improved counting accuracy compared to the half-cycle counting from 24% to 3.5% on average under different load stresses and length conditions. The accuracy can be effectively improved by a further 1.3–2% by adding an extra comparison round.

Keywords: circuit-based rainflow counting algorithm; multi-domain simulation; lifetime estimation application (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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