Reliability Analysis of aircraft starter generator drive converter

Under the more electric aircraft (MEA) theme, many aircraft systems are being electrified. In a previous research work, an electric starter generator system for aircrafts was implemented. This paper presents the reliability of the drive converter – a 3 level neutral point clamped converter (3L-NPC) under an expected mission profile of a short haul aircraft. Wearout failure based reliability of semiconductors and capacitors are considered along with reliability of gate drivers to estimate the overall reliability of the converter.