THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS NRA TOPIC IS TO GET A RIGOROUS UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEGRADATION FAULT MECHANISMS, AND…

Public award description

THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS NRA TOPIC IS TO GET A RIGOROUS UNDERSTANDING OF THE DEGRADATION FAULT MECHANISMS, AND DAMAGE PROPAGATION MECHANISMS FOR POWER SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES. THE INVESTIGATION SHOULD CONSIDER POSSIBLE MICRO-STRUCTURAL DEFECT FORMATION AND THEIR IMPACT ON THE NOMINAL OPERATION OF REAL DEVICES. EXAMPLES OF INTERESTING DEFECTS ARE PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY MISALIGNMENT AND IMPERFECTIONS, IMPERFECTIONS OF HEAT-SPREADING PLANE, STACKING FAULTS, AND DISLOCATIONS AND VARIOUS RADIATION-INDUCED LATTICE DEFECTS. METHODS TO IDENTIFY FAILURE PRECURSORS NEED TO BE FOUND AND THE INFLUENCE OF OPERATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS ON THE DAMAGE PROGRESSION OF COMPONENTS NEED TO BE EXPLORED. IN ADDITION, METHODS TO QUANTIFY SYSTEM UNCERTAINTIES TO IMPROVE CONFIDENCE IN REMAINING USEFUL LIFE PREDICTIONS NEED TO BE INVESTIGATED. THE POWER SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES OF INTEREST ARE COMPONENTS SUCH AS MOSFET, MESFET, DMOS, IGBT, AND GTO. THE RESEARCH SHOULD HAVE A STRONG EXPERIMENTAL COMPONENT THAT VERIFIES AND VALIDATES THE DEVELOPED THEORIES AND ALGORITHMS WITH REAL DATA OBTAINED UNDER SIMULATED AIRCRAFT CONDITIONS. THE GOAL OF THE IVHM PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE THE SAFETY OF BOTH THE NEAR-FUTURE AND NEXT-GENERATION AIR TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS BY REDUCING SYSTEM AND COMPONENT FAILURES AS CAUSAL CONTRIBUTING FACTORS IN AIRCRAFT ACCIDENTS AND INCIDENTS. THE PROJECT SHOULD DEVELOP TECHNOLOGIES TO DETERMINE SYSTEM/COMPONENT DEGRADATION AND DAMAGE EARLY ENOUGH TO PREVENT OR GRACEFULLY RECOVER FROM IN-FLIGHT FAILURES. THESE TECHNOLOGIES WILL ENABLE NEARLY CONTINUOUS ON-BOARD SITUATIONAL AWARENESS OF THE VEHICLE HEALTH STATE FOR USE BY THE FLIGHT CREW, GROUND CREW, AND MAINTENANCE DEPOT. THE TREND TOWARDS MORE ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT WILL ALSO RESULT IN THE MORE PREVALENT USE OF POWER SEMICONDUCTOR DEVICES. THIS TREND WILL REVEAL NEW AND HITHERTO UNKNOWN FAULT MODES ASSOCIATED WITH HIGH-POWER ELECTRONICS. IN ADDITION, NEW DEVELOPMENTS SUCH AS THE MOVE TOWARDS LEAD-FREE SOLDER JOINTS WILL FURTHER RESULT IN UNKNOWN COMPONENT BEHAVIOR. A MAIN EMPHASIS OF PROGNOSIS OF THE IVHM PROJECT IS TO DEVELOP AUTOMATIC METHODS FOR DETECTION, DIAGNOSIS, AND PROGNOSIS OF THE VEHICLE AT A SYSTEM AND SUBSYSTEM LEVEL. THIS IS ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH ANALYSIS OF ELECTRONICS FAILURE, THE ANALYSIS OF THE INTERACTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS ON VEHICLE SYSTEMS AND SUBSYSTEMS, AND THE STUDY OF DAMAGE AND DEGRADATION MECHANISMS TO MORE ACCURATELY ASSESS THE VEHICLE'S HEALTH STATE.