Real-time Electro-thermal Simulations for Power Electronic Converters

In this paper real-time electro-thermal simulation models for power electronic converters are developed. The models replicate the electrical and thermal behavior of the physical system under dynamic load conditions with a high degree of accuracy. The approach is discussed using a simple DC-DC power converter topology and employs a multi-domain modeling approach. The paper also highlights the challenges of data synchronization between the physical and digital models while running real-time hardware in the loop experiments, which is critical for the effectiveness of the real-time simulation technology. Experimental results show that the developed models predict the behavior of the physical system with a high degree of accuracy, with a maximum average percentage deviation of 2%, providing a promising approach for developing multi-domain real-time Digital Twins (DTs) for power electronic converters. Overall, the paper develops computationally efficient models with a high degree of accuracy that are essential for the practical implementation of DTs. The real-time simulation models serve as the foundation for developing DTs for power electronic converters with model updating capabilities, enabling real-time control and predictive maintenance.