The Concerns Regarding Electrical Emissions for DC-DC Converters in Mobile Ground Equipment
Technology in military, commercial, industrial, and manufacturing applications have become much more sophisticated and complex than they were in the past. High-performance electronic equipment is utilized in many different fields, ranging from manufacturing and research to entertainment. This sophisticated equipment needs the right power supply and backup, which is provided by DC-DC converters.
Designers and engineers focus on developing high-density converters alongside other sophisticated equipment. After all, if the converters can’t keep up with the latest technology, they aren’t of much use.
Converters have an impact on the performance, cost, maintenance, reliability, and the life of your equipment. If they’re efficient and well-designed, your equipment’s performance and efficiency wouldn’t be affected by the converters. However, you need to keep certain factors in mind when you design ground-based mobile equipment. One such factor is electrical emission.
Dealing with Electrical Emission
Designers often incorporate noise attenuation or filters into a device to counteract electronic noise that all DC-DC converters emit. These filters will impede high-frequency electromagnetic waves, especially the ones that are within the converter’s range. However, a lot depends on the ability of the filters.
Several factors can have an impact on the performance of noise attenuation filters in devices. Here are some of them:
- The noise filter technique
- The temperature variations
- The Equivalent Series Resistance (ESR) and Equivalent Series Inductance (ESL)
- The location of the components
- High transitions across di/dt and dv/dt
- Base switching frequency
All these factors can have an impact on the performance of the filter. The high transitions across di/dt and dv/dt are especially noteworthy because they cause electromagnetic interference. They lead to radiated as well as conducted noise.
Problems with Parasitic Capacitance
Parasitic capacitance, also known as stray capacitance, is generally unavoidable. It happens when parts of a circuit or electronic components are too close together. It can easily happen around diodes and switching components, especially in high-frequencies. Small distributed capacitances often have low impedances when they’re at high-frequencies.
Designers and engineers can correct this problem while changing the position of components within the device. For example, you can increase the distance between two components to reduce the parasitic capacitance. Unfortunately, you’ll have to reach a compromise here. By increasing the distance, you might compromise thermal conductivity. The longer the thermal energy has to travel, the greater the risk is for it to leak out. That can have an impact on the performance of the device.
It’s important to strike the right balance between thermal conductivity and parasitic capacitance. You can reduce the side of the conduit to facilitate better thermal conduction. That can work to some extent.
These measures won’t address electromagnetic interference completely. Some would still leak out and cause disruption. However, you can introduce alternative shielding components to the design. For example, if you shield the converter completely and add slew rates to transients, you can decrease the dv/dt and di/dt rates significantly.
If you implement a few more modifications, you might be able to change operating frequencies of your converters. That will facilitate better conversation between different components of the device. Consequently, the device will perform better and be more efficient overall.
DC-DC converters will continue to be popular so designers need to come up with different ways to make them more efficient and functional.
If you want to know more electrical emissions for DC-DC converters or or custom made DC to DC converters and services, don’t hesitate to contact us at KaRaTec Power Supply Pty. You can give us a call at 612 9808 1127. You can also fill in this contact us form and we’ll reply as soon as possible.
Thanks for reading,
Karatec Power Supply Pty
612 9808 1127