TSHWANE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY

DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

Course / Code: P O W E R E L E C T R O N I C - PWE 316D

TUTORIALS& Final Answers

PWE 316D Power Electronics Tutorials 2022 -2-

UNIT 1

1.1 A parallel connected R C snubber protects a device against dv/dt.

1. Determine the value of R if the discharging current must be limited to 10 A and supply
voltage is Vs = 240 V. (3)
2. Determine the dv/dt if Cs = 0.1 F. (3)
3. Calculate the power dissipated in the snubber resistor if the device operates at 1 kHz.
(3)

1.2 A thyristor controls a load of RL = 5  supplied from Vs = 240V; the stray inductance is
neglected and the thyristor operates at a frequency of 500 Hz. If the required dv/dt is 120
V/sec and the discharge current is to be limited to 100 A, determine:
1. the values of Rs; (3)
2. the value of Cs; (3)
3. the snubber loss. (3)

1.3 Determine the series inductance Ls that is added to a semiconductor device to limit di/dt to 75
A/sec if the supply voltage is 240 V. (3)

1.4 Consider that the power dissipated into a transistor device is 180 W and the thermal
parameters of the device are Rth-jc = 0.11 K/W, Rth-cs = 0.03 K/W, Rth-sa = 0.11 K/W and the
ambient temperature is 350C. Determine the junction temperature. (3)

1.5 Calculate the thermal resistance for a heat sink used for a transistor with the power dissipated
on it of 200W, Rth-jc = 0.09 K/W, Rth-cs = 0.02 K/W, the ambient temperature of 450C and if
the maximum allowable temperature of the junction is 950C. (3)
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1.6 According to the calculation the thermal resistance of the heat sink is 0.14 K/W and in the
shop you find two heat sinks one of 0.16 K/W and another of 0.1 K/W.
1. What value do you choose? (3)
2. Briefly (two three words) explain why. (3)

1.7 A freewheeling diode is connected parallel on an inductive load of L = 250 H; the resistance
is negligible (R = 0), the voltage source is Vs = 200 V
1. Calculate the value of the current after t1 = 100 sec. (2)
2. Determine the energy E stored in the inductor. (2)

1.8 What are you doing if the number of series connected devices resulted from the calculation is
7.25? Do you choose:
a) 7
b) 8
(3)

1.9 Two diodes are connected in series to share a voltage of Vs = 5 kV. The reverse leakage
currents of the diodes are Is1 = 30 mA and Is2 = 25 mA.
1. Find the diode voltages if the voltage-sharing resistance are R1 = R2 = R = 100 k. (4)
2. Determine the voltage-sharing resistors if the diode voltages are VD1 = VD2 = Vs / 2.
(Assume R1 = 100 k). (4)
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1.10 Ten thyristors are used in a string to withstand a dc voltage of Vs = 20 kV. The maximum
leakage current and recovery charge difference of thyristors are 10 mA and 150 C,
respectively. Each thyristor has a voltage-sharing resistance of R = 56 k and capacitance of
C1 =0.5 F. Determine:
1. The maximum steady-state voltage sharing VDS(max). (2)
2. The steady-state derating factor DRFsteady. (2)
3. The maximum transient voltage sharing VDT(max). (2)
4. The transient voltage derating factor DRFtransient. (2)
5. The number of thyristors if the maximum voltage in steady-state and transient should be
1200 V and derating factor in both situations should be 25%. (3)

1.11 The ideal firing pulse on thyristors connected in parallel is:

a) from the same source and has a long rise time and of short duration;
b) from the same source and has a short rise time and is of long duration;
c) from the same source and has a long rise time and is of long duration;
d) from the same source and has a short rise time and is of short duration;
e) from different sources and has a short rise time and is of long duration.
(2)

1.12 A thyristor must control a DC load of R = 10  and L = 400 mH that is supplied from VS
= 360V. The latching current of the thyristor is IL = 75 mA and the firing pulse width is 30
sec.
1. Find if the thyristor will be ON after the firing pulse is finished (6)
2. If the thyristor is OFF find the parallel resistor R 2 across the load in order to ensure the
latching current after 30 sec. (4)
3. Calculate the width of the pulse that ensures thyristor to stay ON with no other auxiliary
resistor. (5)
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1.13 Two identical MOSFET's that share current equally are mounted on a common heat sink.
The thermal resistances are as follows: Junction to Case: 1,2 °C/W; Case to Heat Sink: 0,3
°C/W; Heat Sink to Ambient air: 0,75 °C/W; The maximum allowed junction temperature:
125 °C; Ambient air temperature: 25 °C
1. Sketch the thermal equivalent circuit for the combination. (3)
2. Determine the maximum power that can be safely dissipated by each device. (2)
3. Determine the heat sink temperature. (2)
4. If one MOSFET would be removed, determine the maximum power that the remaining one
could dissipate before exceeding the maximum junction temperature. (2)
5. Determine the maximum heat sink temperature with only one MOSFET. (2)
6. Determine the maximum current through the single MOSFET if the drain to source
resistance is equal to 14 mΩ. (2)

1.14 The switching waveforms for a BJT with a turn-on snubber are shown below, where
VCC = 400 V, VCE(sat) = 2.5 V, and the collector current in the on-state is ICE = 80 A. The
collector leakage current is negligible (ICEO = 0 A). Calculate the total average power
dissipation.

vCE
VCC

VCE(sat)
t

5 s 115 s 10 s toff = 90 s
iC ICE

t
T
PWE 316D Power Electronics Tutorials 2022 -6-
The switching waveforms for a BJT with a turn-off snubber are shown below. Where VCC = 400
V, VCE(sat) = 2.5 V, and the collector current in the on-state is ICE = 80 A. The collector leakage
current is negligible (ICEO = 0 A). Calculate the total average power dissipation.

vCE
VCC

VCE(sat)
t

5 s 115 s 10 s toff = 90 s
iC ICE

t
T

1.15 The switching waveforms for a BJT with turn-on and turn-off snubbers are shown
below. Use the same values as in the previous two problems and calculate again the total
average power dissipation.

vCE
VCC

VCE(sat)
t

5 s 115 s 10 s toff = 90 s
iC ICE

t
T

1.16 The maximum junction temperature of a transistor is TJ = 125 ºC and the ambient
temperature is TA = 35 ºC. If the thermal impedances are RJC = 0.3 ºC/W, RCS = 0.1 ºC/W, and
RSA = 0.2 ºC/W, calculate a) the maximum power dissipation, and b) the sink temperature.
PWE 316D Power Electronics Tutorials 2022 -7-
1.17 A power MOSFET with RJC = 0.3 ºC/W is operating with a total average power of 120
W. The device is mounted on a heat sink with parameters RCS = 0.1 ºC/W, and RSA = 0.4 ºC/W.
If the ambient temperature is TA = 25 ºC, determine the temperature of the: a) junction, b) case,
and c) heat sink.

1.18 A rectifier must be connected to a 220 VRMS supply with a series inductance of Ls =
40 μH. Calculate the minimum required di/dt rating of the thyristors in the rectifier.

1.19 A device is connected to a 400 V DC supply and must be protected by a RC snubber

for a maximum dv/dt of 500 V/μs.

1. Determine the value of the maximum discharge current if the snubber resistor is Rs = 20
Ω.
2. Determine the value of the snubber capacitance Cs.
3. Calculate the power dissipated in the snubber resistor if the device operates at 5 kHz.

1.20 A thyristor controls a load of RL = 2  supplied from Vs = 230VRMS; the stray inductance
is neglected and the thyristor operates at a frequency of 100 Hz. If the value of Rs is 4.7 Ω and
the value of Cs is 1 F, determine:
1. the discharge current;
2. dv/dt;
3. the snubber loss.

1.21 Problem 7.7, p. 351, Rashid, 3rd edition.