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Thermal

Swift power loss calculation.

PSIM’s Thermal Module lets you quickly calculate the switching and conduction losses of switching devices and the core and winding losses of inductors – without slowing down simulation speed.

For switching devices (diodes, MOSFET, IGBT) the Thermal module provides loss calculation with either a fixed junction temperature impact or with heat dissipation through a heatsink thermal equivalent circuit, which will allow you to ensure that your devices stay within the safe operating area. In v11 a new element was added to model the device characteristics of wide bandgap – SiC & GaN – for these devices use the MOSFET (Eon).

A thermal schematic example of resonant LLC converter with MOSFET IPP60R099CP and diode STPS40L45C thermal devices is shown below:

To learn more about this specific application example read the application note: Power Loss and Efficiency Calculation of Resonant LLC Converter.

Core and winding losses for inductors were added in PSIM version 10. These magnetics losses make use of core dimensions, physical winding structure, etc. to ensure complex relationships like proximity effect are considered.

The loss calculations are thermally dependent and the junction temperature or core temperature is used by the models to reflect this dependence.

Loss, Estimation, Database Editor and More

Rapid Loss Estimation

The Thermal module is ideal for quick loss estimation, and for comparing different operating conditions or comparing devices of different manufacturers. Device conduction losses and switching losses are calculated in the simulation based on device characteristics.

This screenshot shows the thermal module as of PSIM v12, which now includes the Junction to Case, Cauer, or Foster models as part of the device definition in the database.

Easy-to-use Device Database Editor

The Database Editor provides a convenient way to add new devices and manage existing devices. These devices can then be used in the PSIM schematic and their power losses calculated in the simulation. In addition, utility tools are provided to capture device characteristics curves directly from device datasheet images. The screenshots of Device Database Editor and imported electrical characteristics curves for a thermal device at different junction temperatures (Tj) are shown.

Efficiency Curves Calculation

Using Thermal Module in PSIM, users can select different switch devices in a power circuit and calculate the junction temperatures of the devices, and calculate the overall circuit efficiency curves. The figure shows one such efficiency curve at three different values of input line voltages of a resonant LLC power circuit having thermal devices.