摘要 |
A power converter design is disclosed with a novel approach to thermal management which enhances the performance and significantly reduces the cost of the converter compared to prior art power converters. The invention minimizes the heating of one power component by another within the power converter and therefore enables the power converter to work at higher power levels. Essentially, the power converter uses a heatsink having a high length to width ratio, a linear array of power components thermally coupled to the heatsink parallel to the long axis of the heatsink and a heat removal system which produces the highest cross sectional thermal flux perpendicular to said long axis. In addition, a number of ancillary thermal management techniques are used to significantly enhance the value of this basic approach. A specific circuit design for the power converter is not disclosed or discussed as the invention can be applied to any number of power converter electrical topologies. What is addressed is the specific thermal management of the three primary component groups found in any power converter; semiconductor devices, magnetic components and capacitors. The invention uses specific geometries and power component arrangements as well as strategic use of advanced thermal materials. |