An Infrared Thermal Measuring System for Automotive Applications and Reliability Improvement

In the last years the global energy economy hangs in the balance, pushing up the research interest in novel and renewable energy sources and in innovative engines able to improve performances saving the efficiency. This frame requires the development of power electronics subsystems and the continuous increase of working temperatures; hence reliability has become the most critical requirement for any new device design. The temporal evolution of temperature distribution on the surface of a power electronic device undergoing an exerted stress plays a fundamental role in studying and improving reliability. A suitable scanning measuring system has been realized in order to allow the analysis of fast transient states and the localization of "hot-spots" which could be a cause of a premature failure and unreliability of the devices. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.