AN5381 Application Note
AN5381
Case Non-rupture Current Ratings
Application Note
Replaces September 2000, version AN5391-1.0
AN5381-1.1 July 2002
INTRODUCTION
sure. In high power installations where strong magnetic fields
exist, an equipment short circuit or even burn down of the
equipment may be the consequence.
The non-repetitive surge current ITSM and the I2t value define the
limit of the electrical stress in the forward direction of a thyristor
provided that it is triggered with sufficient gate current. These
characteristics of the semiconductor are used to design short
circuit protection, namely fuses or circuit breakers. By definition,
this level of stress does not destroy the thyristors or diodes.
The case non-rupture current rating is the value of the peak
current, which can flow in the reverse direction through a
failed device, that does not cause a mechanical failure of
the encapsulation of the semiconductor.
If a thyristor becomes short circuit in the forward direction and a
current flows which is greater than the surge current limit,
destruction of the encapsulation will not normally occur until this
current is substantially greater than the surge current. This is
because the thyristor is effectively triggered on by the fault
current and normal injection over a large area of the silicon takes
place.
Destructive tests in the reverse direction of thyristors show a
large variation in the value of the non-rupture current depending
on the location of the destroyed spot on the silicon pellet. The
thick copper electrodes that contact the wafer restrain arcs at
failure sites in the body of the silicon. Arcs at the edge of the
silicon are the worst and produce the lowest values of case non-
rupture current.
If the thyristor becomes defective in the reverse blocking state,
a short circuit current can flow in the reverse direction. The
cathode area that remains undamaged does not take part in
carrying the current. A small edge around the failure melts and
an arc develops inside the case. The intense heat generated by
the arc will lead to either cracking of the ceramic case through
thermal shock or melting of the metal flanges of the encapsula-
tion. Hot plasma then escapes through the break in the enclo-
For large diameter thyristors, the case non-rupture current is
often smaller than the non-repetitive surge on-state current I
.
TSM
Even for smaller devices, the use in parallel sets can cause
problems
For ease of measurement and also direct comparison with the
surge current, case non-rupture currents are most commonly
quoted for single half sine waves of 50Hz current.
Fig. 1 Fault current flowing back through a failed thyristor
in a 3 phase bridge which shorts out two phases
of the supply
Fig.2 A failed device in a parallel application can
experience a current equal to the full forward current
through all parallel paths
1/3
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