Hi,
I am doing some research on issues experienced with Traction Inverters. I will say up front that I work for a company that has overhauled and repaired these units for rail customers. During the course of the work we have done on inverters we began to explore the possibility of defining and testing the characteristics of the IGBTs. The objective was to see if it is possible to develop a range of tests to determine the stage in life and subsequent life expectancy of each unit. We captured as much data from the IGBTs and the GDCs as we could in order to see if there were any identifiable patterns, but the at time we were also developing the tests so we can't claim anything conclusive yet. We would like to expand our sample range, if the opportunity is out there. We also see a value in this work to improve inverter maintenance and performance, both for us and our clients, but it is expensive to do in respect of man-hours and so a serious commitment requires that there is the market potential to exploit it. Hence my ask on this forum.
I appreciate that this could be a sensitive subject. Not many companies are keen to shout about issues, but I was hoping that some engineers on this platform might be willing to provide information or discuss offline. I am happy to sign an NDA and will keep all information given confidential.
The information I am looking for is:
Train class
No of inverters
Type of inverter
GTO or IGBT
History of issues
History of any repairs or replacements
Frequency of repeat issues, if any
Recommended overhaul periods, if any
If anyone is willing to provide information, please post back with your contact info and I will email you direct. I decided not to post my contact details as the address has my company name and I do not want this to be seen as some form of advertising stunt.
Thanks,
RMU
I am doing some research on issues experienced with Traction Inverters. I will say up front that I work for a company that has overhauled and repaired these units for rail customers. During the course of the work we have done on inverters we began to explore the possibility of defining and testing the characteristics of the IGBTs. The objective was to see if it is possible to develop a range of tests to determine the stage in life and subsequent life expectancy of each unit. We captured as much data from the IGBTs and the GDCs as we could in order to see if there were any identifiable patterns, but the at time we were also developing the tests so we can't claim anything conclusive yet. We would like to expand our sample range, if the opportunity is out there. We also see a value in this work to improve inverter maintenance and performance, both for us and our clients, but it is expensive to do in respect of man-hours and so a serious commitment requires that there is the market potential to exploit it. Hence my ask on this forum.
I appreciate that this could be a sensitive subject. Not many companies are keen to shout about issues, but I was hoping that some engineers on this platform might be willing to provide information or discuss offline. I am happy to sign an NDA and will keep all information given confidential.
The information I am looking for is:
Train class
No of inverters
Type of inverter
GTO or IGBT
History of issues
History of any repairs or replacements
Frequency of repeat issues, if any
Recommended overhaul periods, if any
If anyone is willing to provide information, please post back with your contact info and I will email you direct. I decided not to post my contact details as the address has my company name and I do not want this to be seen as some form of advertising stunt.
Thanks,
RMU