Effects of the PCB layout on the surge suppression in power convertors with coordinated surge suppressor devices

Abstract

Random selection of PCB layout and placement of the surge protection devices in the protection circuitry results in a large overshoot with oscillatory response. The clamped output voltage level includes the overshoot due to distant placement of the suppressor devices and EMI filter capacitors. This degrades the performance of transient voltage surge suppression systems. The three fold decrease in track width deteriorates the performance substantially. An experimental study with supporting formulae is reported. Effects of different PCB layouts and placement of varistors driven with a 1.2/50 /spl mu/s combination wave is reported. The effect on the performance due to location of the EMI filter capacitors and varistors on the PCB track is discussed along with the results. The resulting waveforms are reported to depict the effect and results are discussed with conclusions.