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Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference: EP/S00081X/1
Title: Insulation degradation and lifetime of inverter-fed machines with fast switching (high dv/dt) converters
Principal Investigator: Wang, Professor J
Other Investigators:
Mellor, Professor PH Cotton, Professor I Griffo, Professor A
Smith, Professor S Yuan, Professor X
Researcher Co-Investigators:
Project Partners:
Control Techniques Dynamics Ltd High Voltage Partial Discharge Ltd Motor Design Ltd
Ricardo UK Limited Rolls-Royce Plc (UK) Safran Power UK Ltd
Siemens UTC Aerospace Systems (United Tech UK)
Department: Electronic and Electrical Engineering
Organisation: University of Sheffield
Scheme: Standard Research
Starts: 01 November 2018 Ends: 31 October 2022 Value (£): 1,199,232
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:
Power Electronics
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:
Aerospace, Defence and Marine
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Panel DatePanel NameOutcome
13 Jun 2018 Engineering Prioritisation Panel Meeting 13 and 14 June 2018 Announced
Summary on Grant Application Form


Rapid and transformative advances in power electronic systems are currently taking place following technological breakthroughs in wide-bandgap (WBG) power semiconductor devices. The enhancements in switching speed and operating temperature, and reduction in losses offered by these devices will impact all sectors of low-carbon industry, leading to a new generation of robust, compact, highly efficient and intelligent power conversion solutions. WBG devices are becoming the device of choice in a growing number of power electronic converters used to interface with and control electrical machines in a range of applications including transportation systems (aerospace, automotive, railway and marine propulsion) and renewable energy (e.g. wind power generators). However, the use of WBG devices produces fast-fronted voltage transients with voltage rise-time (dv/dt) in excess of 10~30kV/us which are at least an order of magnitude greater than those seen in conventional Silicon based converters. These voltage transients are expected to significantly reduce the lifetime of the insulation of the connected machines, and hence their reliability or availability. This, in turn, will have serious economic and safety impacts on WBG converter-fed electrical drives in all applications, including safety critical transportation systems.

The project aims to advance our scientific understanding of the impact of WBG devices on machine insulation systems and to make recommendations that will support the design and test of machines with an optimised power density and lifetime when used with a WBG converter. This will be achieved by quantifying the negative impact of fast voltage transients when applied to machine insulation systems, by identifying mitigating strategies that are assessed at the device and systems level and by demonstrating solutions that can support the insulation health monitoring of the WBG converter-fed machine, with support from a range of industrial partners in automotive, aerospace, renewable energy and industrial drives sectors.
Key Findings
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Organisation Website: http://www.shef.ac.uk