High-temperature electro-ceramics and their application to SiC power modules

This paper presents the research achievement in Japan to develop highly-refractive electro-ceramics for application to silicon carbide (SiC) power modules such as heat-resistive passive components (snubber capacitors and resistors), metalised substrates, ceramic circuit boards, and high-temperature packaging technologies. To enable the operation of SiC devices at high temperatures, the ability to withstand 250 °C and temperature cycle between ?40 and 250 °C must be ensured for all the ceramic components and packaging technologies. For the passive components, the following properties were achieved, which would enable the operation of SiC devices at high switching speeds and high temperatures: low-resistance resistors which exhibit a resistance variation of less than 2% over a temperature range of ?40 to 250 ℃ and with almost no variation at frequencies of less than 10 MHz; multi-layered ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) with a capacitance variation of less than ± 10% within the above-mentioned temperature range and with high self-resonant frequencies of about 10 MHz. In addition, Cu-metalised ceramic substrates using high thermal conductive Si₃N₄ (180 W /(m·K)) and ceramic circuit boards produced using a co-firing process were developed. It was shown that prototype SiC power modules (2-in-1 structure) fabricated using the developed ceramic components could be operated at 225 °C, while exhibiting a high switching speed, 10–20 times faster than that of conventional Si IGBT (150 °C operation).     

A method for inspecting industrial parts surfaces based on an optics model

A new method based on an optics model for highly reliable surface inspection of industrial parts has been developed. This method uses multiple images taken under different camera conditions. Phong's model is employed for surface reflection, and then the albedo and the reflection model parameters are estimated by the least squares method. The developed method has advantages over conventional binarization in that it can easily determine the threshold of product acceptability and cope with changes in light intensity when detecting defects.     

Induction-heated cooking appliance using new quasi-resonant ZVS-PWMinverter with power factor correction

This paper presents a new prototype of a voltage-fed quasi-load resonant inverter with a constant-frequency variable-power (CFVP) regulation scheme, which is developed for the next-generation high-frequency high-power induction-heated (IH) cooking appliances in household applications. This application-specific high-frequency single-ended push-pull inverter using new-generation specially designed insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) can efficiently operate under a principle of zero-voltage switching pulsewidth modulation (ZVS-PWM) strategy. This low-cost soft-switching inverter using reverse-conducting and reverse-blocking IGBTs is more suitable for multiple-burner-type induction-heating cooking appliances. The operating principle and unique features of a new resonant ZVS-PWM inverter circuit topology is originally described, together with its steady-state power regulation characteristics, which are illustrated on the basis of its computer-aided simulation and experimental results. The ZVS operation condition on power regulation, loss analysis of new IGBTs incorporated into this inverter, and its active filtering performance are discussed for IH cooking appliances     

Near infrared spectral patterns of fatty acid analysis from fats and oils

A near infrared (NIR) spectral pattern of oil contains information about fatty acid composition, because NIR absorption bands around 1600–1800 nm and 2100–2200 nm are due to the straight carbon chain andcis double bonds, respectively. This study was undertaken to build a foundation for the rapid determination of the fatty acid composition in oil by an NIR method. First, NIR spectra of pure triglycerides were measured and characterized. Fatty acid compositions could be estimated roughly by comparing the spectra of fats and oils (butter fat, pig milk fat, soybean oil and palm oil) with those of pure triglycerides. Secondly, the NIR spectra of these fats and oils were reconstructed by summation of the triglyceride spectra, which are multiplied by factors corresponding to the fatty acid composition of the sample determined by gas chromatography. The calculated spectra agree with the originals, especially for that of soybean oil. However, in order to reconstruct spectra precisely, it may be necessary to reevaluate the loading weight of each triglyceride, which was equal in this study. Part of this study was presented at the 3rd International Conference on Near Infrared Spectroscopy on June 28, 1990, Brussels, Belgium.     

The effect of double layer interaction on the drainage of thin liquid films

The drainage of thin liquid films of an aqueous solution containing anionic surfactant and inorganic electrolyte between platinum and a mercury pool electrode was examined by the capacitance method. The system consisted of either symmetrical or unsymmetrical potentials of diffuse double layers which were estimated by differential capacitance measurements. The results showed that the drainage of the liquid film initially took place quickly and then slowly attained an equilibrium thickness. This general tendency could be explained qualitatively by the theoretically calculated disjoining pressure but the equilibrium thickness of 7–13 nm was too small to be explained in terms of electrostatic repulsion and van der Waals attraction. Hence, it was supposed that other forces, such as steric hindrance, are acting to thicken the film in addition to the above mentioned disjoining pressure. The force acting on the film obtained from the Reynolds equation also indicates the presence of other forces which are acting to thin the film in addition to gravity.