More power in a smaller space
Inverters, DC-DC converters and on-board chargers are central building blocks of modern e-mobility architectures. Their integration into highly compacted power modules fundamentally changes design principles, manufacturing processes and material processing. And it places high demands on thermal management.
Where power meets small space
Keep them cool
The electronic components must not overheat so that they reliably fulfill their safety-relevant function. Their thermal management becomes a key technical challenge because of complex designs and high requirements for robustness and reliability. The precise application of large quantities of material while simultaneously reducing cycle times is particularly challenging. What’s more, new material properties make the process more difficult – for example, increased abrasiveness and reduced viscosity.
“Electronics components move closer together – a challenge for heat dissipation and accessibility which means that one-box designs place high demands on potting solutions. Flexible bonding, dispensing and potting systems, which enable fast and precise application and adapt to new material properties, are in demand.”
Benedikt Buttmann Key Account Manager Product line Scheugenpflug
Which applications protect power electronics in one-box designs?
Dispensing at speed
High performance, non-stop
Real-time testing without losing time
Control builds trust. Traceability is the foundation for true quality assurance and transparent process control. 2D and 3D inline inspection systems ensure continuous testing and monitoring in the process module – alongside the application of adhesive and sealant – without additional cycle time. Complete documentation is possible even after delivering the component. This creates security – for manufacturers and customers.
The materials: densely packed, technically challenging
In addition to thermally conductive pastes, thermally conductive potting plays a central role in the thermal management of high-voltage modules, delivering greater performance for a greater challenge. It protects sensitive modules and ensures efficient heat dissipation. This guarantees the durability and reliability of the electronics – a decisive factor for integrating high-performance electronics in compact designs.
But it places great demands on material development and process design. This is because high filler content for thermal performance compromises sedimentation stability which requires special homogenization and vacuum processes.
Safety for sensitive components
Filling in a vacuum chamber enables reliable and reproducible processing of potting materials. Air pockets can be effectively avoided by specifically lowering the ambient pressure to below 5 mbar. This allows for reliable, reproducible processing of thermally conductive potting materials, even with complex component geometries and tight cycle times.
Coating – two processes, one goal
The increasing use of high-voltage charging architectures is driving up the requirements for protecting and insulating electronic modules. That’s where special coating technologies are now gaining in importance and various processes such as dielectric and conformal coatings are used.
Dielectric coating provides electrical insulation. It prevents short circuits by separating components from each other. Conformal coating follows the geometry of a printed circuit board and protects the electronic modules from environmental influences.
Atlas Copco offers precise and flexible dispensing solutions for coating such materials:
One last twist
Once heat management, heat dissipation and insulation have been ensured for the safe and high-performance ‘inner workings’ of connectors, converters and on-board chargers, the assembly cell comes into play. It is designed for demanding manufacturing environments and efficiently combines multiple processes in one cell: screw mounting with torques up to 20 Nm, automatic screw feeding and optical inspection for quality assurance. The result: reliable screw connections and maximum process control.
Working together toward series production
For integrated power electronics systems, Atlas Copco offers consistent, modular processes for bonding, dispensing and potting – flexible, scalable and ready for the future. At the Atlas Copco Innovation Centers, customers can experience a wide range of technologies for gap fillers, thermally conductive pastes and thermally conductive adhesives (TCAs).
From test to line. Solutions that work reliably today and keep pace with new requirements.
