Electrolytic Failure Modeling of Aluminum Electrolytic Capacitor by Finite Element Method

The failure rate of aluminum electrolytic capacitor (AEC) is high in power electronic systems. Due to the complex structure of AEC, it is difficult to establish an actual model, so experiments are the common way to analyze the failure of AEC. Thus, this paper proposes a finite element method (FEM) for AEC considering electrolytic failure. Firstly, the mechanism of electrolytic failure and changes of characteristic parameters in the AEC are elucidated. Secondly, an equivalent finite element model is established to simulate and analyze the electrolytic failure of AEC. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed AEC FEM method is verified through capacitor aging experiments.