Physics of failure based analysis of Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitor

Abstract

Electrolytic capacitors are one of the important devices in various power electronics systems, such as motor drives, uninterruptible power supply, electric vehicles and dc power supply. Electrolytic capacitors are also the integral part of many other electronic devices. One of the primary function of electrolytic capacitors is the smoothing of voltage ripple and storing electrical energy. However, the electrolytic capacitor has the shortest lifespan of components in power electronics. Past experiences show that electrolytic capacitor tends to degrade and fail faster under high electrical or thermal stress conditions during operations. The primary failure mechanism of an electrolytic capacitor is the evaporation of the electrolyte due to electrical or thermal overstress. This leads to the drift in the values of two important parameterscapacitance and equivalent series resistance (ESR) of the electrolytic capacitor. An attempt has been made to age the electrolytic capacitor and validate the results. The overall goal is to derive the accurate degradation model of the electrolytic capacitor.