{"id":9361,"date":"2014-10-17T11:45:26","date_gmt":"2014-10-17T18:45:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/?p=9361"},"modified":"2014-10-17T11:45:26","modified_gmt":"2014-10-17T18:45:26","slug":"3d-printed-power-inverter-meets-beats-doe-2020-targets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/cafe.foundation\/blog\/3d-printed-power-inverter-meets-beats-doe-2020-targets\/","title":{"rendered":"3D Printed Power Inverter Meets, Beats DOE 2020 Targets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reduced weight and component volumes are important for both cars and aircraft, allowing lighter overall construction and greater flexibility in fitting those components into compact spaces.\u00a0 The U. S. Department of Energy has set 2020 targets for things like batteries and power inverters \u2013 the device that turns direct current from batteries into alternating current to run electric motors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Researchers at the Department of Energy\u2019s Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL)<\/a>used 3D printing and \u201cnovel silicon carbide (SiC) wide band gap (WBG) semiconductors to craft a prototype power inverter for electric vehicles that is lighter and can handle more power than current units.\u00a0 It nearly meets the DOE\u2019s power density and specific power targets and exceeds the efficiency target handily.<\/span><\/p>\n

\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Metric<\/b><\/b><\/td>\n\n

DOE 2020 target<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

ORNL prototype<\/b><\/b><\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n

Power density<\/td>\n\n

13.4 kW\/L<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

13.33 kW\/L<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Specific Power<\/td>\n\n

14.1 kW\/kg<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

11.5 kW\/kg<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Efficiency<\/td>\n\n

>94% Power<\/p>\n<\/td>\n

\n

<99%<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/i>DOE has put 1.45 million<\/a> into integrating WGB technology, novel circuit architectures and advanced packaging into electric drive systems.\u00a0 They hope to \u201creduce cost, improve efficiency, and increase power density.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"50-percent<\/a>

50-percent 3D printed now, ORNL’s smaller, lighter power inverter will eventually be a product of 100-percent additive manufacturing<\/p><\/div>\n

Heading this effort, ORNL\u2019s Madhu Chinthavali led the Power Electronics and Electric Machinery Group on this project.\u00a0 His ongoing efforts can be reviewed in this PowerPoint presentation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Besides providing greater efficiency over a wide range of temperatures than conventional circuitry, wide bandgap technology enables devices to perform more efficiently, possess higher inherent reliability, and operate at higher frequencies.<\/p>\n

Additive manufacturing helped researchers explore complex geometries, increase power densities, and reduce weight and waste while building ORNL\u2019s 30 kW prototype inverter.<\/p>\n

ORNL\u2019s design and its advantages were augmented by the use of additive manufacturing (3D printing) to produce the actual hardware.\u00a0 According to Chinthavali, \u201cWith additive manufacturing, complexity is basically free, so any shape or grouping of shapes can be imagined and modeled for performance. We\u2019re very excited about where we see this research headed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ORNL reports that, \u201cUsing additive manufacturing, researchers optimized the inverter\u2019s heat sink, allowing for better heat transfer throughout the unit. This construction technique allowed them to place lower-temperature components close to the high-temperature devices, further reducing the electrical losses and reducing the volume and mass of the package.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother key to the success is a design that incorporates several small capacitors connected in parallel to ensure better cooling and lower cost compared to fewer, larger and more expensive \u2018brick type\u2019 capacitors.\u201d\u00a0 3D printing also enables rapid changes within one production run, enabling improvements to be incorporated in the next prototype as quickly as computer drawings can be downloaded to the computer.<\/p>\n

The prototype 30-kilowatt inverter is liquid-cooled and features 50 percent printed parts.\u00a0 Future efforts will have up to 3D printing and strive for even lighter, more compact structures \u2013 half the size of currently available commercial vehicle units.\u00a0 Chinthavali projects an inverter with four times the power density of their prototype.<\/p>\n

Others involved in this work include Curt Ayers, Steven Campbell, Randy Wiles and Burak Ozpineci.<\/p>\n

Research for this project was conducted at ORNL\u2019s National Transportation Research Center and Manufacturing Demonstration Facility, DOE user facilities, with funding from DOE\u2019s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.<\/p>\n