ABB Oy
ABB is a global technology leader in electrification and automation, enabling a more sustainable and resource-efficient future. The ABB group consists of four business areas: Electrification, Motion, Process Automation, and Robotics & Discrete Automation. ABB Motion, with annual revenues of $8 billion and approximately 22000 employees worldwide, specializes in the development and manufacturing of variable frequency drives, electric motors, generators, and integrated powertrain systems.
The business area focuses on advancing power semiconductor applications through comprehensive research in thermal management, particularly for high-power density converters and industrial drives operating at high switching frequencies. The expertise of ABB Motion encompasses the development of reliable packaging technologies for harsh industrial environments and advanced cooling technologies including two-phase thermal solutions among others.
The work of ABB Motion in power electronics spans from low-voltage drives utilizing silicon IGBTs to medium-voltage applications employing advanced topologies and modular multilevel converters, contributing to the advancement of energy-efficient motor control across process industries, renewable energy systems, and industrial automation.
Role
ABB serves as an industrial partner offering multiple use cases for advanced packages in power conversion applications, addressing both power semiconductors and microelectronics. The primary role focuses on improving reliability and quality of power converter designs based on advanced packaging and interconnect technologies with System-in-Package (SiP) solutions and efficient thermal performance, including the integration of 2-phase cooling into package/module designs. ABB demonstrates and develops advanced thermal management concepts and simulation tools for next-generation power converter concepts. Working closely with partners in the use case, ABB integrates these advanced cooling solutions into industrial drive applications. The partners will provide precise thermal modeling, thermomechanical stress modeling and failure analysis expertise, and advanced simulation integration and automation support.
Key Contribution
ABB's contribution focuses on establishing industrial power conversion use case requirements and specifications for novel SiP packaging and interconnect technologies. ABB will develop sophisticated simulation tools for designing advanced thermal management concepts together with the consortium partners, specifically graphite thermal interface materials and 2-phase cooling systems for power converter applications. ABB provides industrial drives, test setups and cooling solutions for simulation model development and verification. A critical contribution involves creating more accurate lifetime modeling for thermo-mechanically induced failure mechanisms in power semiconductor modules through advanced thermal models. ABB targets TRL6 demonstration capabilities for these thermal management concepts, aiming to achieve beyond state-of-the-art thermal performance in industrial drives and inverter applications. The specific technical target includes demonstrating a 40% increase in power loss density for 560kW inverter designs, achieving cooling capability for high-power losses exceeding 2.7 kW within a maximum power semiconductor module baseplate area of 140×100 mm². This advancement will enhance competitiveness in demanding global power conversion markets while improving reliability through optimized packaging and interconnect solutions.
