Study on Temperature Dependence of Partial Discharge in Low Voltage Traction Drives

Abstract

Due to rising DC-Voltages and voltage slew rates (du/dt) partial discharge (PD) phenomena move into the focus for low voltage traction drives. State of the art systems are designed to be PD-free at any point of operation. Elevated temperatures yield decreased partial discharge inception voltages (PDIV). In the design process, this is considered by measurements at rated operation employing safety factors which predict the PDIV at higher temperatures. Traction drives in electric vehicles have an increasing electrical and thermal utilization to increase power density. To allow for a more precise design process for these machines, studies on the temperature dependence of PDIV are performed and discussed in this paper.