Thyristor (Piecewise Linear)

Thyristor

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• Simscape / Electrical / Semiconductors & Converters

• 

Description

The Thyristor (Piecewise Linear) block models a thyristor. The I-V characteristic for a thyristor is such that the thyristor turns on if the gate-cathode voltage exceeds the specified gate trigger voltage. The device turns off if the load current falls below the specified holding-current value.

To define the I-V characteristic of the thyristor, set the On-state behaviour and switching losses parameter to either Specify constant values or Tabulate with temperature and current. The Tabulate with temperature and current option is available only if you expose the thermal port of the block.

In the on state, the anode-cathode path behaves like a linear diode with forward-voltage drop, V_f, and on-resistance, R_on. However, if you expose the thermal port of the block and parameterize the device using tabulated I-V data, the tabulated resistance is a function of the temperature and current.

In the off state, the anode-cathode path behaves like a linear resistor with a low off-state conductance, G_off.

The defining Simscape™ equations for the block are:

    if (v > Vf)&&((G>Vgt)||(i>Ih))
        i == (v - Vf*(1-Ron*Goff))/Ron;     
    else
        i == v*Goff;     
    end 

where:

• v is the anode-cathode voltage.

• Vf is the forward voltage.

• G is the gate voltage.

• Vgt is the gate trigger voltage.

• i is the anode-cathode current.

• Ih is the holding current.

• Ron is the on-state resistance.

• Goff is the off-state conductance.

Using the Integral Diode tab of the block dialog box, you can include an integral cathode-anode diode. An integral diode protects the semiconductor device by providing a conduction path for reverse current. An inductive load can produce a high reverse-voltage spike when the semiconductor device suddenly switches off the voltage supply to the load.

The table shows you how to set the Integral protection diode parameter based on your goals.

Goal	Value to Select	Block Behavior
Prioritize simulation speed.	Protection diode with no dynamics	The block includes an integral copy of the Diode block. To parameterize the internal Diode block, use the Protection parameters.
Precisely specify reverse-mode charge dynamics.	Protection diode with charge dynamics	The block includes an integral copy of the dynamic model of the Diode block. To parameterize the internal Diode block, use the Protection parameters.

Modeling Variants

The block provides four modeling variants. To select the desired variant, right-click the block in your model. From the context menu, select Simscape > Block choices, and then one of these variants:

• PS Control Port — Contains a physical signal port that is associated with the gate terminal. This variant is the default.

• Electrical Control Port — Contains an electrical conserving port that is associated with the gate terminal.

• PS Control Port | Thermal Port — Contains a thermal port and a physical signal port that is associated with the gate terminal.

• Electrical Control Port | Thermal Port — Contains a thermal port and an electrical conserving port that is associated with the gate terminal.

The variants of this block without the thermal port do not simulate heat generation in the device.

The variants with the thermal port allow you to model the heat that switching events and conduction losses generate. The thermal port is hidden by default. To enable the thermal port, select a thermal block variant.

Thermal Losses

Switching losses are one of the main sources of thermal loss in semiconductors. During each on switching transition, the thyristor parasitics store and then dissipate energy.

Switching losses depend on the off-state voltage and the on-state current. When the switching device is turned on, the power losses depend on the initial off-state voltage across the device and the final on-state current once the device is fully in its on state. When the switching device is turned off, the power loss is defined by the Natural commutation rectification loss parameter value. This is the rectification loss applied at the point that the device switches off due to the current falling below the holding current. This loss is a fixed value and it is not scaled by the off-state voltage or the on-state current.

In this block, switching losses are applied by stepping up the junction temperature with a value equal to the switching loss divided by the total thermal mass at the junction. The Switch-on loss, Eon(Tj,Iak) parameter value sets the sizes of the switching losses and they are either fixed or dependent on junction temperature and drain-source current. In both cases, losses are scaled by the off-state voltage prior to the latest device turn-on event.

Note

As the final current after a switching event is not known during the simulation, the block records the on-state current once the current is greater than the holding current for a time longer than the value specified in the Wait time before switch-on current measurement. Similarly, the block records the off-state voltage at the point that the device is commanded on. For this reason, the simlog does not report the switching losses to the thermal network until one switching cycle later.

For all ideal switching devices, the switching losses are reported in the simlog as lastTurnOffLoss and lastTurnOnLoss (for the thyristor, this is the Natural commutation rectification loss) and recorded as a pulse with amplitude equal to the energy loss. If you use a script to sum the total losses over a defined simulation period, you must sum the pulse values at each pulse rising edge. Alternatively, you can use the ee_getPowerLossSummary and ee_getPowerLossTimeSeries functions to extract conduction and switching losses from logged data.

Ports

The figure shows the block port names.

Conserving

G — Gate terminal

electrical

Port associated with the gate terminal. You can set the port to either a physical signal or electrical port.

A — Anode terminal

electrical

Electrical conserving port associated with the anode terminal.

K — Cathode terminal

electrical

Electrical conserving port associated with the cathode terminal.

H — Thermal port

thermal

Thermal conserving port. The thermal port is optional and is hidden by default. To enable this port, select a variant that includes a thermal port.

Parameters

Main

This table shows how the visibility of Main parameters depends on how you configure the Block choice and On-state behavior and switching losses parameters. To learn how to read this table, see Parameter Dependencies.

Main Parameter Dependencies

Parameters and Options
Block choice
PS control port or Electrical control port				PS control port | Thermal port or Electrical control port | Thermal port
Forward voltage, Vf				Gate trigger voltage, Vgt
On-state resistance				Holding current
Off-state conductance				On-state behaviour and switching losses
				Specify constant values	Tabulate with temperature and current
Gate trigger voltage, Vgt				Forward voltage, Vf	On-state voltage, Vak(Tj,Iak)
Holding current				On-state resistance	Temperature vector, Tj
				Off-state conductance	Anode-cathode current vector, Iak
					Off-state conductance

On-state behaviour and switching losses — On-state current for switching loss data

Specify constant values (default) | Tabulate with temperature and current

Select a parameterization method. The option that you select determines which other parameters are enabled. Options are:

• Specify constant values — Use scalar values to specify the output current, switch-on loss, switch-off loss, and on-state voltage data. This is the default parameterization method.

• Tabulate with temperature and current — Use vectors to specify the output current, switch-on loss, switch-off loss, and temperature data.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Forward voltage, Vf — Forward voltage

0.8 V (default)

Forward voltage at which the device turns on.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

On-state resistance — On-state resistance

0.001 Ohm (default)

Anode-cathode resistance when the device is on.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Off-state conductance — Off-state conductance

1e-5 1/Ohm (default)

Anode-cathode conductance when the device is off. The value must be less than 1/R, where R is the value of On-state resistance.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Gate trigger voltage, Vgt — Gate trigger voltage

6 V (default)

Gate-cathode voltage threshold. The device turns on when the gate-cathode voltage is above this value.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Holding current — Holding current

1 A (default)

Current threshold. The device stays on when the current is above this value, even when the gate-cathode voltage falls below the gate trigger voltage.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

On-state voltage, Vak(Tj,Iak) — On-state voltage

[0, .1, .6, .8, 1, 1.3, 1.6, 2, 2.4; 0, .1, .7, 1, 1.2, 1.5, 1.9, 2.4, 2.8] V (default)

Voltage drop across the device while it is in a triggered conductive state. This parameter is defined as a function of temperature and final on-state output current. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Temperature vector, Tj — Temperature vector

[298.15, 398.15] K (default)

Temperature values at which the on-state voltage is specified. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Anode-cathode current vector, Iak — Anode-cathode current vector

[0, .1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 70, 100] A (default)

Anode-cathode currents for which the on-state voltage is defined. The first element must be zero. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

See the Main Parameter Dependencies table.

Switching Losses

To enable this tab, right-click the block in your model, select Simscape > Block choices, and then PS Control Port | Thermal Port or Electrical Control Port | Thermal Port

Switch-on loss — Switch-on loss

22.86e-3 J (default)

Energy dissipated during a single switch-on event. This parameter is defined as a function of temperature and final on-state output current. Specify this parameter using a scalar quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Specify constant values.

Natural commutation rectification loss — Natural commutation rectification loss

10e-3 J (default)

Rectification loss applied at the point that the block switches off when the current falls below the Holding current. Specify this parameter using a scalar quantity.

Off-state voltage for switching loss data — Off-state voltage for losses data

300 V (default)

The output voltage of the device during the off state. This is the blocking voltage at which the switch-on loss and switch-off loss data are defined.

On-state current for switching loss data — Output current

600 A (default)

Output currents for which the switch-on loss, switch-off loss, and on-state voltage are defined. The first element must be zero. Specify this parameter using a scalar quantity.

Note

This parameter is measured at the point that the gate voltage falls below the Gate trigger voltage, Vgt. The turn-on pulse is longer than the time it takes the current to reach its maximum value.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Specify constant values.

Switch-on loss, Eon(Tj,Iak) — Switch-on loss

[0, .0024, .024, .12, .2, .48, 1.04, 2.16, 3.24; 0, .003, .03, .15, .25, .6, 1.3, 2.7, 4.05] * 1e-3 J (default)

Energy dissipated during a single switch on event. This parameter is defined as a function of temperature and final on-state output current. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Tabulate with temperature and current.

Temperature vector for switching losses, Tj — Temperature vector for switching losses

[298.15, 398.15] K (default)

Temperature values at which the switch-on loss and switch-off loss are specified. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Tabulate with temperature and current.

Anode-cathode current vector for switching losses, Iak — Anode-cathode current vector for switching losses

[0, .1, 1, 5, 10, 20, 40, 70, 100] A (default)

Anode-cathode currents for which the switch-on loss and switch-off-loss are defined. The first element must be zero. Specify this parameter using a vector quantity.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, set On-state behavior and switching losses to Tabulate with temperature and current.

Wait time before switch-on current measurement — Time before on-state current is measured

1e-4 s (default)

Time to wait before recording the on-state current

Integral Diode

Integral protection diode — Integral protection diode

None (default) | Protection diode with no dynamics | Protection diode with charge dynamics

Block integral protection diode. The default value is None.

The diodes you can select are:

• Protection diode with no dynamics

• Protection diode with charge dynamics

Diode model — Diode model

Piecewise Linear (default) | Tabulated I-V curve

Select one of these diode models:

• Piecewise Linear — Use a piecewise linear model for the diode, as described in Piecewise Linear Diode. This is the default method.

• Tabulated I-V curve — Use tabulated forward bias I-V data plus fixed reverse bias off conductance.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the thermal port is exposed and the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Table type — Tabulated function

Table in If(Tj,Vf) form (default) | Table in Vf(Tj,If) form

Whether to tabulate the current as a function of temperature and voltage or the voltage as a function of temperature and current.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the thermal port is exposed and the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics and Diode model is set to Tabulated I-V curve.

Forward voltage — Forward voltage

0.8 V (default)

Minimum voltage required across the + and - block ports for the gradient of the diode I-V characteristic to be 1/R_on, where R_on is the value of On resistance.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter:

• If the thermal port is hidden, set Integral protection diode to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics.

• If the thermal port is exposed, set Integral protection diode to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics and Diode model to Piecewise linear.

On resistance — On resistance

0.001 Ohm (default)

Rate of change of voltage versus current above the Forward voltage.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter:

• If the thermal port is hidden, set Integral protection diode to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics.

• If the thermal port is exposed, set Integral protection diode to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics and Diode model to Piecewise linear.

Forward currents, If(Tj,Vf) — Vector of forward currents

[.07, .12, .19, 1.75, 4.24, 7.32, 11.2; .16, .3, .72, 2.14, 4.02, 6.35, 9.12] A (default) | nonnegative vector

Forward currents. This parameter must be a vector of at least three nonnegative elements.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve and Table type to Table in If(Tj,Vf) form.

Junction temperatures, Tj — Vector of junction temperatures

[25, 125] degC (default)

Vector of junction temperatures. This parameter must be a vector of at least two elements.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve.

Forward voltages, Vf — Vector of forward voltages

[.5, .7, .9, 1.3, 1.7, 2.1, 2.5] V (default)

Vector of forward voltages. This parameter must be a vector of at least three nonnegative values.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve and Table type to Table in If(Tj,Vf) form.

Forward voltages, Vf(Tj,If) — Vector of forward voltages

[.9, 1.15, 1.25, 1.5, 1.75, 2.17, 2.6, 2.85; .58, .68, .75, 1.1, 1.38, 1.77, 2.27, 2.7] V (default) | nonnegative vector

Forward voltages. This parameter must be a vector of at least three nonnegative elements.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve and Table type to Table in Vf(Tj,If) form.

Forward currents, If — Vector of forward currents

[.1, .2, .5, 1, 2, 4, 7, 10] A (default)

Vector of forward currents. This parameter must be a vector of at least three nonnegative values.

Dependencies

To enable this parameter, expose the thermal port and set Diode model to Tabulated I-V curve and Table type to Table in Vf(Tj,If) form.

Off conductance — Off conductance

1e-5 1/Ohm (default)

Conductance of the reverse-biased diode.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with no dynamics or Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Junction capacitance — Junction capacitance

50e-9 F (default)

Diode junction capacitance.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Peak reverse current, iRM — Peak reverse current

-235 A (default) | negative scalar

Peak reverse current measured by an external test circuit. This value must be less than zero. The default value is -235 A.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Initial forward current when measuring iRM — Initial forward current when measuring iRM

300 A (default) | positive scalar

Initial forward current when measuring peak reverse current. This value must be greater than zero.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Rate of change of current when measuring iRM — Rate of change of current when measuring iRM

-50A/μs (default) | negative scalar

Rate of change of current when measuring peak reverse current. This value must be less than zero.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Reverse recovery time parameterization — Reverse recovery time parameterization

Specify reverse recovery time directly (default) | Specify stretch factor | Specify reverse recovery charge

Determines how you specify reverse recovery time in the block. The default value is Specify reverse recovery time directly.

If you select Specify stretch factor or Specify reverse recovery charge, you specify a value that the block uses to derive the reverse recovery time. For more information on these options, see How the Block Calculates TM and Tau.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics.

Reverse recovery time, trr — Reverse recovery time

15 μs (default)

Interval between the time when the current initially goes to zero (when the diode turns off) and the time when the current falls to less than 10% of the peak reverse current. The value of the Reverse recovery time, trr parameter must be greater than the value of the Peak reverse current, iRM parameter divided by the value of the Rate of change of current when measuring iRM parameter.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify reverse recovery time directly.

Reverse recovery time stretch factor — Reverse recovery time stretch factor

3 (default)

Value that the block uses to calculate Reverse recovery time, trr. This value must be greater than 1. Specifying the stretch factor is an easier way to parameterize the reverse recovery time than specifying the reverse recovery charge. The larger the value of the stretch factor, the longer it takes for the reverse recovery current to dissipate.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify stretch factor.

Reverse recovery charge, Qrr — Reverse recovery charge

1500 μAs (default)

Value that the block uses to calculate Reverse recovery time, trr. Use this parameter if the data sheet for your diode device specifies a value for the reverse recovery charge instead of a value for the reverse recovery time.

The reverse recovery charge is the total charge that continues to dissipate when the diode turns off. The value must be less than $$-\frac{i^2{}_{RM}}{2a},$$

where:

• i_RM is the value specified for Peak reverse current, iRM.

• a is the value specified for Rate of change of current when measuring iRM.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify reverse recovery charge.

Diode turn-off voltage when measuring Erec — Diode turn-off voltage when measuring Erec

-600 V (default)

Voltage between the diode in steady-state.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify reverse recovery energy.

Stray inductance when measuring Erec — Stray inductance when measuring Erec

150 nH (default)

Total unintended inductance in the measurement circuit. The block uses this value to calculate Reverse recovery energy, Erec.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify reverse recovery energy.

Reverse recovery energy, Erec — Reverse recovery energy

0.03 J (default)

Total switching losses due to the diode reverse recovery.

Dependencies

This parameter is visible only when the Integral protection diode parameter is set to Protection diode with charge dynamics and the Reverse recovery time parameterization parameter is set to Specify reverse recovery energy.

For more information on these parameters, see Diode.

Thermal Port

Use the thermal port to simulate the effects of generated heat and device temperature. For more information on using thermal ports and on the Thermal Port parameters, see Simulating Thermal Effects in Semiconductors.

Compatibility Considerations

Update on switching losses and thermal modelling options

Behavior changed in R2020b

From R2020b forward, the Thyristor (Piecewise Linear) block has improved losses and thermal modelling options.

As a result of these changes:

• Electrical and thermal on-state losses are now always identical. The Thermal loss dependent on parameter and its options, Voltage and current and Voltage, current, and temperature, have been renamed to On-state behavior and switching losses, Specify constant values, and Tabulate with temperature and current:

  • If you selected Voltage and current for Thermal loss dependent on, then the electrical on-state losses are unchanged and their values are determined using the on-state resistance. However, the thermal on-state losses are now also determined by the on-state resistance. Prior to R2020b, the thermal on-state losses were defined by the product of the On-state voltage and Output current, Iout parameters.

  • If you selected Voltage, current, and temperature for Thermal loss dependent on, then the thermal on-state losses are unchanged and the On-state voltage, Vak(Tj,Iak) parameter sets their values. However, the electrical on-state losses are now equal to the thermal on-state losses. Prior to R2020b, the electrical on-state losses were defined by the value of the on-state resistance.

• The On-state voltage and the switch-off parameters are no longer used.

Removal of energy dissipation time constant parameter

Behavior changed in R2021a

From R2021a forward, the Energy dissipation time constant parameter of the Thyristor (Piecewise Linear) block is no longer used. A step in junction temperature now reflects the switching losses. If your model contains a thermal mass directly connected to this block thermal port, remove it and model the thermal mass inside the component itself.

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