Design and evaluation of a PCB dual−switch fuse with energetic materials embedded. Application for new fail−safe and fault−tolerant converters

International audiencen this paper, a new concept of passive dual-switch fuse is proposed, allowing to symmetrically disconnecting a switching cell against a leg short circuit failure. This device is composed of a di-phase fuse connected in series with a switching cell. It is made of standard printed circuit board, including in its thickness, an energetic material in order to assist the disconnection, combining a dual-fuse mode and a passive dual-switch mode. Firstly, we present the mechanical design of the dual-switch and the first tests of rupture by means of an energetic material buried. In a second step, we describe the design of the dual-fuse on PCB and electrothermal finite elements simulations by means of Comsol 3D TM. Finally, a combined dual-switch fuse prototype is fully integrated in a voltage source inverter and experimentally validated