Power electronic circuit reliability analysis incorporating parallel simulations

This paper presents and applies reliability analysis methods to power electronic circuit simulation. The focus is on the first-order reliability method (FORM). Two circuits are analyzed: an open-loop updown power converter; and a similar closed-loop circuit that is currently in mass production. The open-loop circuit provides an example from which rich quantitative data can be obtained for various methods. The closed-loop production design circuit provides a proof-of-concept for a FORM application on a complex design. The implementation includes parallel gradient computations across six networked workstations. The parallel environment is described in detail.