PIN-FIN IGBT COOLERS SUIT HYBRID VEHICLES
May 23, 2007 1:58 PM
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CPS offers AlSiC (Aluminum Silicon Carbide), a metal-matrix composite pin-fins substrate for liquid-cooled high-power module systems used in IGBT power modules for hybrid-electric vehicles (HEV). The AlSiC device-compatible thermal expansion (8 ppm/°C) simplifies IGBT assembly over Cu pin-fin coolers, eliminating the need for stress compensation layers that increase thermal resistance and assembly complexity and cost over the higher thermal expansion Cu (17 ppm/°C).
AlSiC is a lightweight material (1/3 that of Cu), which makes it an ideal cooling material for the weight-sensitive HEV application. AlSiC also has higher strength and stiffness than Cu, which, combined with its lightweight nature, makes AlSiC coolers more tolerant to shock and vibration. The CPS AlSiC fabrication process efficiently produces both the composite material and fabricates the product geometry in one process step. CPS can work with customers to provide designs that are fabricated to shape requiring no finished machining for cost-effective cooler production.
