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Douglas G. Brooks Co-Authors “Trace and Via Currents and Temperatures”
May 25, 2016 | Douglas G. BrooksEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Douglas G. Brooks, PhD and Dr. Johannes Adam, CID have teamed up to write PCB Trace and Via Currents and Temperatures: The Complete Analysis. Brooks has been looking at trace current and temperature relationships since the mid-1990s. Now, he and Adam, of the consulting group Adam Research, have assembled decades of knowledge into these pages.
Starting with a historical background, this book covers: (a) PCB materials (copper and dielectrics) and the role they play in the heating and cooling of traces; (b) The IPC curves found in IPC 2152; (c) Equations that fit those curves; (d) Computer simulations that fit those curves and equations; (e) Sensitivity analyses showing what happens when we vary the environment (adjacent traces and planes, changing trace lengths, thermal gradients, etc.); (f) Via temperatures and what determines them; (g) Via current densities; (h) Fusing issues, what happens when traces are overloaded, and (i) Thermal gradients along traces, even at low temperatures.
Also provided are supplemental chapters or appendices about measuring the thermal conductivity of dielectrics and measuring the resistivity of copper traces (and why many prior attempts to do so have been doomed to failure.) And there is even a chapter on whether industrial CT scanning might replace microsections for measuring trace parameters. Never before has such a thorough compendium been available, especially so conveniently.
This book is available through Amazon.
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Insulectro’s 'Storekeepers' Extend Their Welcome to Technology Village at IPC APEX EXPO
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Heavy Copper PCBs: Bridging the Gap Between Design and Fabrication, Part 1
04/01/2024 | Yash Sutariya, Saturn Electronics ServicesThey call me Sparky. This is due to my talent for getting shocked by a variety of voltages and because I cannot seem to keep my hands out of power control cabinets. While I do not have the time to throw the knife switch to the off position, that doesn’t stop me from sticking screwdrivers into the fuse boxes. In all honesty, I’m lucky to be alive. Fortunately, I also have a talent for building high-voltage heavy copper circuit boards. Since this is where I spend most of my time, I can guide you through some potential design for manufacturability (DFM) hazards you may encounter with heavy copper design.