Numerical Investigation of Different Jet Impingement Configurations for Thermally Unbalanced Power Modules in Aerospace Traction Inverters

Thermal management of power electronic inverters becomes a critical necessity for high density aerospace applications. Proper thermal management techniques can push the rated power of such power inverters. Jet impingement is one of the optimistic techniques that possesses superior heat transfer characteristics, which can be an advanced assist for power inverters cooling innovation. This paper proposes different jet impingement configurations to provide a thermal management solution for thermally unbalanced power modules used in 1 MVA, 3-level ANPC inverter, by performing computational fluid dynamics simulations to analyze the thermal and hydraulic characteristics. The optimal design target is to decrease the temperature difference between the unbalanced switches to enhance the overall reliability and lifetime of the power module while simultaneously reducing the pressure drop. With the optimized design among all the proposals, the minimum temperature difference is 24 °C between the power module switches, while the pressure drop reached 12 kPa for the optimal jet configuration.