Degradation testing and failure analysis of DC film capacitors under high humidity conditions

Metallized polypropylene film capacitors are widely used for high-voltage DC-link applications in power electronic converters. They generally have better reliability performance compared to aluminum electrolytic capacitors under electro-thermal stresses within specifications. However, the degradation of the film capacitors is a concern in applications exposed to high humidity environments. This paper investigates the degradation of a type of plastic-boxed metallized DC film capacitors under different humidity conditions based on a total of 8700 h of accelerated testing and also post failure analysis. The test results are given by the measured data of capacitance and the equivalent series resistance. The degradation curves in terms of capacitance reduction are obtained under the conditions of 85% Relative Humidity (RH), 70% RH, and 55% RH. The post failure analysis of the degraded samples of interest is also presented. The study enables a better understanding of the humidity-related failure mechanisms and reliability performance of DC film capacitors for power electronics applications.