-
- News
- Books
Featured Books
- design007 Magazine
Latest Issues
Current IssueSilicon to Systems: From Soup to Nuts
This month, we asked our expert contributors to weigh in on silicon to systems—what it means to PCB designers and design engineers, EDA companies, and the rest of the PCB supply chain... from soup to nuts.
Cost Drivers
In this month’s issue of Design007 Magazine, our expert contributors explain the impact of cost drivers on PCB designs and the need to consider a design budget. They discuss the myriad design cycle cost adders—hidden and not so hidden—and ways to add value.
Mechatronics
Our expert contributors discuss the advent of mechatronics in PCB design, the challenges and opportunities this creates for circuit board designers, and the benefits—to the employee and the company—of becoming a mechatronics engineer.
- Articles
- Columns
Search Console
- Links
- Events
||| MENU - design007 Magazine
Würth Elektronik Defines an Electrical Property for Molded Inductors
July 18, 2024 | Wurth ElektronikEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
![](https://iconnect007.com/application/files/6317/2131/1086/Wurth_Elektronik.jpg)
Würth Elektronik has developed a new testing procedure for determining the maximum operating voltage of molded inductors. The manufacturer of electronic and electromechanical components introduces developers to the electrical property of dielectric strength and what happens if it is exceeded in an application which is described in Application Note 126 (www.we-online.com/ANP126). The molded inductors from the Power Magnetics product portfolio (e. g., WE-MAPI, WE-XHMI, WE-LHMI) are now successively supplemented with the value of the maximum operating voltage Vop as a new parameter in the specifications.
Based on the new testing procedure, Würth Elektronik defines the maximum operating voltage Vop in its data sheets. This represents the voltage at which an inductor can be operated continuously in the application without impairing performance, risking damage or overheating the inductor. The operating voltage is therefore a limit value for the input voltage, up to which the inductor can be used reliably in an application without irreversible damage.
The test concept examines the behavior of inductors up to their voltage limits under realistic conditions in a DC-DC full-bridge converter (voltage transients of up to 60 V/ns and frequencies of up to 2 MHz). The approximate voltage limit is firstly evaluated using a short-term test. The operating voltage is then defined on this basis and verified in a long-term test.
Background
Thanks to steady technological advancement in the semiconductor industry, today’s MOSFETs can now achieve high current densities and short switching times. For this reason, the question of the dielectric strength of coils has become increasingly important in recent years when it comes to selecting the appropriate inductor.
What’s more: Continuous optimization of the production process and the material composition of molded inductors enable high permeability of the ferrite material to achieve the highest possible inductance values in the smallest possible package space. The power density per volume can therefore be raised continuously.
This entailed a steady increase in the proportion of iron powder or iron alloys relative to the insulation of the binder, resulting in the distance between individual grains becoming progressively smaller. If the insulation barrier between the individual metal particles is not high enough for the voltage applied in the application, a conductive path is created through the core material, caused by arcing between the individual metal particles. It may be observed in the application that the profile of the ripple current changes. Schematically, there is now a resistor parallel to the inductor.
The consequences: Self-heating of the coil rises dramatically due to the rising losses. These additional losses considerably reduce the inductor’s efficiency. The advantage of a DC/DC converter – to transmit voltage levels with high efficiency – is lost.
Suggested Items
STAr Sagittarius Series Intelligent Integrated Test System
08/12/2024 | PRNewswireSTAr Sagittarius Series, launched in 2001, is an intelligent test software designed for semiconductor parametric and reliability test and enables to integrate capacitance-voltage (CV) and current-voltage (IV) measurements into one single platform.
Knowles Extends Operating Life of Electronic Devices with New Arc Suppressor/Snubber Network Devices
08/08/2024 | PRNewswireKnowles Corporation, a market leader and global provider of advanced micro-acoustic microphones and speakers, audio solutions, and high-performance capacitors and RF products, announced the QAS Series, a new line of RC-type Arc Suppressor/Snubber components that extend the operating life of electronic and electro-mechanical devices.
ROHM Develops the Industry's Smallest CMOS Op Amp Optimized for Smartphones and Compact IoT Devices
08/02/2024 | Globe NewswireROHM Semiconductor today announced the TLR377GYZ, an ultra-compact 1.8V-5V, rail-to-rail CMOS operational amplifier (op amp), optimized for amplifying signals from sensors such as temperature, pressure, flow rate, used in smartphones, small IoT devices, and similar applications.
KYZEN’s Adam Klett to Keynote at SMTA Electronics in Harsh Environments Conference
05/07/2024 | KYZEN'KYZEN, the global leader in innovative environmentally friendly cleaning chemistries, announced today that KYZEN’s Director of Science, Adam Klett, PhD will present as a keynote speaker at the SMTA Electronics in Harsh Environments Conference. The event is scheduled to take place May 14-16, 2024 at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Aismalibar to Attend APEC 2024
02/15/2024 | AismalibarAismalibar will be attending the APEC, the leading conference for practicing power electronics professionals, in Long Beach, California from February 25th to 29th, 2024 in Booth 552. Aismalibar will be presenting new cooling technologies for power electronics, specifically Thermal Interface Materials (TIMs) and Insulated Metal Substrates (IMS).