Field-Reliability of Compact Power Converters-Video

Abstract: The field-reliability of a power electronics switching converter is among the least understood topics today. There are no established guidelines available for the design and manufacture of high-performance low-cost power converters in order to guarantee prescribed mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) in a given end application. This talk will discuss the current approach followed in industry for assessing the field-reliability of power converters, present experimental data on compact high-end computer power supplies with MTBF of 1 million hours, and discuss novel power converter design and manufacturing approaches that emphasizes on “physics-based” component failure mechanisms.