Comprehensive Testing to Speed Development of More Reliable Power Interconnects
Stands and computer simulations for testing the reliability of power electronic interconnects under multiple stresses were developed by researchers at the Center for Power Optimization of Electro-Thermal Systems, an NSF-funded Engineering Research Center (ERC) based at the University of Illinois.
The tools can help designers comprehensively test power electronic interconnects, enabling them to optimize the devices for size and lifetime reliability. With this tool in their hands, system designers can cost-effectively create smaller, more reliable power devices.
This project illustrates a key goal of POETS, which is to break down the silos between different disciplines (electrical, mechanical, materials) in order to co-design and co-operate these power-dense electro-thermal systems. The tool being developed would not be possible without collaboration between various areas of reliability research. This tool combines the efforts from experiments that yield tangible data for the development of statistical models, high-fidelity simulation results that allow for an increased understanding of the physics-of-failure related to power electronic interconnects, and work done to interface and inject existing analysis frameworks with data-driven results.
