The CircuitCalculator - Com Blog PCB Trace Width Calculator

PCB Trace Width Calculator January 31, 2006
This Javascript web calculator calculates the trace width for printed circuit
boards based on a curve t to IPC-2221 (formerly IPC-D-275). Also see the
via calculator.
New features:
Results update as you type
Several choices of units
Units and other settings are saved between sessions
Blog format allows user comments
Inputs:
Current 10 Amps
Thickness 2 oz/ft^2
Optional Inputs:
Temperature Rise 10 Deg C
Ambient Temperature 25 Deg C
Trace Length 1 inch
Results for Internal Layers:
Required Trace Width 368 mil
Resistance 0.000685 Ohms
Voltage Drop 0.00685 Volts
Power Loss 0.0685 Watts
Results for External Layers in Air:
Required Trace Width 142 mil
Resistance 0.00178 Ohms
Voltage Drop 0.0178 Volts
Power Loss 0.178 Watts
Notes:
The trace width is calculated as follows:
First, the Area is calculated:
Area[mils^2] = (Current[Amps]/(k*(Temp_Rise[deg. C])^b))^(1/c)
Then, the Width is calculated:
Width[mils] = Area[mils^2]/(Thickness[oz]*1.378[mils/oz])
search go!
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1 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Posted in : Calculators, Electrical Engineering, PCB Author : Brad
For IPC-2221 internal layers: k = 0.024, b = 0.44, c = 0.725
For IPC-2221 external layers: k = 0.048, b = 0.44, c = 0.725
where k, b, and c are constants resulting from curve tting to the IPC-2221
curves
For geometry diagrams, click on the pictures below.

For frequently asked questions, see the comments.
Comments
1. Administrator - January 31, 2006
Trace Width Calculator FAQs
1a. QUESTION: Very cool PCB width tool! I would like to know its limits
though. I entered a 65 amp current requirement and it returned a track
width that must be incorrect.
1a. ANSWER: The original graphs that this tool is based on (published in
IPC-D-275) only cover up to 35 Amps, up to 0.4 inches of trace width,
from 10 to 100 degrees C of temperature rise, and copper of 0.5 to 3
ounces per square foot. The formulas used here will simply extrapolate
when the values are outside of these ranges.
1b. QUESTION: I used your PCB trace width calculator. Intuitively I would
say the required internal trace width would be less than the external case
since the external trace can peal o!; the opposite is true according to the
calculator???? Why?
1b. ANSWER: In air, the external layers have better heat transfer due to
convection. A good heat insulator blankets the internal layers, so they
get hotter for a given width and current. Since the Trace Width Calculator
tries to control the temperature rise of the traces, it makes the internal
traces wider. In vacuum, or in a potted assembly, you should use the
internal layer guidelines even for the external layers.
1c. QUESTION: What does temperature rise mean and how does it apply?
1c. ANSWER: Temperature rise means how much hotter the trace will get
with current owing in it compared to without. You have to decide how
much temperature rise your board can handle based on the operating
environment and the type of PWB material used. Ten degrees is a very
safe number to use for just about any application. If you can live with the
trace width required for a ten-degree rise, you are good to go. If you
want to try to skinny up the traces, ask for 20 degrees of temperature or
more.
1d. QUESTION: I use wagon wheels or spokes when connecting to a
ground plane to make it easier to solder to. The trace width calculator is
telling me to make the spokes so wide that it defeats the purpose. What
should I do?
1d. ANSWER: The wagon wheels spokes are very short length traces and
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2 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
are heat sunk to the plane. The trace width calculator uses empirical
formulas based on long traces with no special heat sinking. Generally,
the wagon wheel spokes do not have to be anywhere near as wide as
long traces. However, at this time, I dont know of a good way to do
calculations for wagon wheel spokes.
1e. QUESTION: What are Mils?
1e. ANSWER: A Mil is 1/1000 of an inch.
2. jds - February 6, 2006
If I have a plane that provides plenty of heatsinking area, but at one point
my overall width necks down to 60 mils. I am running 3 amps max
through this and it is an inner plane on 0.5 oz Cu. I am wondering if this
calculator really only applies to a textbook design of a trace of x width
and y length - and not to something like my scenario? I think there is
plenty of heatsinking area, but i recognize that the 60 mil spot on my
board is the bottleneck for current, but its length is less than 200 mils.
Outside that area, there is a whole plane (swiss cheesed by various
connectors and vias).
3. Administrator - February 6, 2006
jds - Yes, you are right. The trace width calculator is more geared
towards long traces. Short traces with heatsinking to planes do not get as
hot.
4. biswajit das - February 15, 2006
I want to know about high-speed PCB design. Please give me some
documents about high-speed PCB design.
5. MAM - February 24, 2006
How should I work in pulsed current into your formula. An example
would be a 10uS pulsed 45 Amps then a delay of 7 seconds. Also, it
would be helpful if you added entering your present design trace i.e.
weight, width, lenght, current, duty cycle or pulse width, with an output
from the calculator to include IR drop and temperature rise.
6. Administrator - February 24, 2006
Normally for pulsed currents, you can use the RMS value (see
http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Lab/9643/rms.htm). However
in your case, the timing is probably slower than the thermal time
constant of the board, so you cant count on the thermal mass to average
out the temperature. For now, it is beyond what this calculator can do,
but Ill think about it.
7. Donald McElhran - March 2, 2006
Are there any guidelines or rules of thumb were multiple planes are
utilized.
8. Administrator - March 2, 2006
Donald For distributing current in multiple layers, I recommend putting
lots of vias. Then if the layers are di!erent thicknesses, treat them as a
current divider to calculate the current distribution. If they are all the
same kind of layer (all internal or all external), then you can just add up
RF
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Mount SOT, SOIC,
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3 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
all the thicknesses and calculate the trace width as if they were one layer.
Brad
9. Andre Arens - March 3, 2006
Hello,
How can I calculate the number of vias, drills and diameters for di!erent
currents? Is there also a tool for this?
Thank you for your help.
Andre
10. Administrator - March 3, 2006
Andre - I plan on adding a via calculator soon, but for now I am going to
recommend that you take a look at this excellent application note from
Texas Instruments by Robert Kollman titled Constructing Your Power
Supply Layout Considerations.
Brad
Update: The Via Calculator is now here:
http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2006/03/12/pcb-via-calculator/
11. Mike Fontes - April 20, 2006
Hi,
I would like to be able to work backwards to increase a track size to
lower the power loss in the track. Do you have a way to do it? If not can
you expose the formulas so I can do it in a spreadsheet of my own?
Sincerely,
Mike Fontes
12. Administrator - April 20, 2006
Mike,
See
http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2006/04/20/nd-pcb-trace-
width-based-on-power/
13. bhaskar - May 11, 2006
What is the formula to calculate the trace width?
14. Administrator - May 12, 2006
bhaskar,
The formula is shown below the calculator.
Brad
15. chakravarthy M.D - June 1, 2006
What is IPC-D-275? How do they calculate the k, b, and c values?
16. Administrator - June 1, 2006
IPC-D-275 is a standard for printed circuit board design that has
guidelines for trace width verses current. IPC-D-275 has been replaced
4 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
by IPC-2221 and IPC-2222, but the guidelines regarding current carrying
capacity have not changed and are now in IPC-2221.
The values for k, b, and c used here were not calculated in IPC-D-275 or
IPC-2221, but were determined using an empirical curve t.
I went ahead and updated my references from IPC-D-275 to IPC-2221.
Brad
17. brendan - June 5, 2006
Do you have any information on sizing PCB tracks for fuses and what
considerations should be taken into account?
18. Bo - June 24, 2006
The second parameter in yellow, Input thickness: does it refer to the
thickness of the PCB itself or the width of the tracing (which does not
seem to make any sense since it is given as a result parameter?)
thanks!
Bo It refers to the thickness of the copper foil.
Brad
forwarded message
Hi Brad.
Thanks for your response. I was interested in sizing tracks from fused
supplies. Since I sent you the last email, I have found out that rating the
track to 160% of the fuse value (at room temp.) is a good rule of thumb
that is recommended by automotive companies.
Cheers
Brendan
21. Freddie Mack - June 28, 2006
Thankssaves me lots of time when laying out 3-10 ampere power
supplies and high wattage audio power ampliers.
22. Ansari - July 3, 2006
What is the formula for pcb trace length from time delay?
For the 100pS ,what is the trace length?
23. Administrator - July 4, 2006
Ansari,
The trace length in meters as a function of time delay and relative
dielectric constant is:
Length(Time_Delay, Relative_Dielectric_Const) =
c * Time_Delay / SQRT(Relative_Dielectric_Const)
where
c = 3E8 m/s = speed of light in free space
5 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Relative_Dielectric_Const depends on board material and is ~4.5 for FR4
So, for example the length for a 100 ps delay with FR4 is
0.0141 meters = 1.41 cm = 0.557 inches
Brad
24. John Ng - July 12, 2006
I presume the calculator is based on a stead-state current supplied
through the trace. If the current is not in a steady state as in a current
spike situation that only occur in micro-seconds, how does the calculator
take that into account?
John,
Yes, the calculator is based on steady-state current. It does not take into
account pulses of short duration. If the pulses have a fast enough
repetition rate (compared to the boards thermal time constant), you can
use the RMS current. Also see response #6 above on a similar topic.
Brad
26. Patrick Howlett - July 18, 2006
Hi,
If I wanted to calcualte a width/weight of a copper external track I
wanted to use as a fuse, does anyone have experience of how I could use
this calculator to come up with a usable answer, maybe like specifying a
high temperature rise?
Regards
Patrick
27. Samuele - July 25, 2006
Hello everybody! I need a via calculator!!!
Can someone help me?
Does anyone know a specication or a guidelines to calculate it?
Thank You!
Samuele,
Try http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2006/03/12/pcb-
via-calculator/ and http://www.ultracad.com/articles/viacurrents.pdf . If
those are not what you want, please let us know a little more what you
need.
Brad
29. Vivi - July 27, 2006
Hi,
I think the temperature rise has the relationship with the board size. How
to consider this into calculation?
Thank you very much!
6 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Vivi,
Some information about the e!ect of area on temperature rise can be
found in the article Constructing Your Power Supply - Layout
Considerations, by Robert Kollman
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slup230/slup230.pdf
Brad
31. Fernando - August 1, 2006
Hi,
I am designing a power board to control a motor from an actuator, FLA
(Full Load Amps) = 12 Amps and LRA (Locked Rotor Amps) = 62 Amps.
What is the rule in this case for the width and thickness of the trace? For
start-up currents and a trace that is design to carry 12 amps, what would
be the max current that this trace will handle to start that motor?
Thank you
32. Administrator - August 1, 2006
Fernando,
It really depends on how long it takes the motor to start, and how much
thermal mass is in the board. One approach would be to design the
board for the full locked rotor current but with a higher temperature rise
setting that you are comfortable with.
Brad
33. Victor - August 11, 2006
What are the calculations for the Resistance? And how do i convert
betwen oz and mm?
Victor,
For resistance calculation details, see the notes in this post:
http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2006/01/24/trace-resistance-
calculator
A copper sheet of 1 oz/ft^2 has a thickness of 0.035 mm or 1.4 mils.
Another handy thing to memorize is that 1 oz/ft^2 copper has a
resistivity of 0.5 milliohms per square. It applies to a square of any size,
so you can visually break a trace into squares and then quickly estimate
resistance. Okay, so if we have a trace that is made of 0.5 oz/ft^2 copper
and is 7 inches long and 0.5 inches wide, what is the resistance a.) using
the head calculation method, and b.) using the trace calculator link
above?
Brad
35. Victor - August 11, 2006
Thanx alot! And by the way, does the temperature raise a!ect the
resistance in the calculator?
7 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Victor,
Yes, the resistance is calculated at T_ambient + T_rise. Thanks for the
good questions.
Brad
37. benjie - August 21, 2006
I have a requirement like this: heater trace must be 0.75 ohm at ambient
temp and 0.83 ohm at 130 degrees, so should my temperature rise be
105 deg or 130 deg? Thanks.
Benjie,
Can you provide more details? Are you talking about degrees C or F?
What is your ambient temperature?
For what you are doing, you may be better o! using the trace resistance
calculator here:
calculator/
Brad
39. Joaquin - August 24, 2006
Hi Administrator
Some questions about the implemented equations: reading IPC-2221A,
section 6.2 we can read
Current[Amps] = k * (Temp_Rise[deg. C])^b * (Area[mils^2])^c
where
b = 0.44
c = 0.725
k = 0.048 for outer layers
k = 0.024 for inner layers
The coe"cients are slightly di!erent, how did you obtain your
equation? You did a curve-tting directly from g 6.4?
Do you plan to update this calculator with the new standard IPC-2152?
Thank you,
Joaquin
Joaquin,
My coe"cients were slightly di!erent because I did my own curve t
before the coe"cients were published as part of IPC-2221A. Prior specs
only published graphs, not equations. Since you pointed out the
di!erence, I went ahead and updated my calculator to match IPC-2221A.
I plan to keep the calculator updated to new the specs when they become
available.
Thank you,
Brad
8 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
41. las - August 25, 2006
I have a PCB which will be molded, 15#25 mm approx, with 20A current
on several nets. Ive read the calc is based on long traces. I use the calc
for reference, and obtain 2.5 mm intern - 6.6 mm extern for trace width.
My connections are copper pour (area ll) 4-17mm in length depending
on how you view it. Should I be sure the narrowest part of the pour is at
least 2.5mm or in the case of short distance copper pours is something
less acceptable? Any idea what the best standard reference is for this?
THANKS las
las,
Note: Your internal and external traces appear to be reversed. Internal
should be wider than external.
To answer your question, narrower traces may be acceptable in your
case, but calculating how narrow they can be is kind of tricky.
I dont think there is a standard for solving this kind of problem because
it depends entirely on the specics of your conguration. The most
thorough analytical approach would be to do a thermal nite element
analysis.
Other than that, you can do some hand calculation as discussed in
Section V of:
Constructing Your Power Supply - Layout Considerations, by Robert
Kollman
http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slup230/slup230.pdf
and/or use the thermal calculators here:
http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/?s=thermal
and/or do some experimenting of your own.
Sorry there is no simpler answer to your question that I am aware of!
Brad
43. Dennis - August 26, 2006
How about calculating and showing the fusing currents in the trace and
via calulators?
44. Brad - September 14, 2006
Hi Dennis,
That is a good idea. I found some references on fusing current here:
http://www.ultracad.com/articles/fusing.pdf
http://www.signalpro.com/bfailure.htm
However, it seems that the various formulas give widely di!erent results
and were not correlated to any test data are therefore extremely
approximate. Does anyone know of a better study that has been tested?
Is anyone interested in doing such a study? If we can nd a formula that
can be trusted, I will add it to the calculators.
Brad
forwarded comment from Joe
9 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
I dont have access to IPC documents.
Some assumptions regarding these formulas are unclear/missing.
Can someone clarify the following situation?
1.93A, 1oz, 20c gives 50 mil trace width and
0.363A, 1oz, 20c gives 5 mil trace width.
If I route 5 traces at 5mil width (stack them on 5 adjacent layers)
I get 5 x 0.363A = 1.815A
or 94% of the current carrying capacity, with no additional
rise in temperature and 1/2 PCB area.
Seems strange since power is packed tighter, should be hotter,
and less capable of carrying current.
If I jam the 5 traces together to form one 25mil wide trace,
then I only get 1.166A capacity.
But if I use two layers with 25mil width, I can have 2.332A capacity.
If I go to 5oz copper, I only need 10mil for 1.93A, which does
scale linearly. Power density is very high here and less able
to be cooled due to less surface area with surroundings.
The arrangement of cross sectional geometry is not completely
addressed.
Joe,
The IPC-2221 standard is based on some observed temperature rise data
on some specic PCB test articles. The observed data was then converted
into a empirical formulas. Your observations point out that the empirical
relationship between width and current is not linear, however the
relationship between thickness and current is linear. It seems likely that
the IPC standard has assumed some spreading between traces which
would allow paralleled traces to be able to carry more current at the
same temperature rise than a single trace of the equivalent total width.
As far as the thickness to current relationship, it is linear because the
required trace area is calculated then divided by thickness to get width.
So while the area is based on a non-linear formula, the thickness has a
basic linear scaling e!ect. Douglas Brooks [1] has done some studies
where thickness and width were included as separate non-linear e!ects
in the empirical equation. He was able to get slightly better curve tting
to the data.
There has forever been a push to nd a better way to calculate the width-
current-temperature relationship in PCBs, but this has been elusive. A
recent good e!ort in progress is called IPC-2152 [2]. PCB thermal
calculations can be done very accurately using nite element analysis
software if the entire PCB board geometry, and layer stack-up, and
surrounding thermal environment are modeled in complete detail,
however this is usually too expensive and time consuming. Some projects
demand that level of detail, however the present IPC-2221 standard
gives us a simple time honored approach that is generally considered to
be conservative.
[1] http://www.ultracad.com/articles/pcbtemp.pdf
[2] http://people.senecac.on.ca/john.ebden/aed/IPC2152.pdf
Brad
47. Joe - September 17, 2006
10 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Brad,
Thanks for the additional information.
I also realized that when stacking narrower traces, the temperature rises
need to be combined. So for example, with 5 traces stacked, the outer 2
may be at 70C ambient, but a rise in the trace temp (e.g. 10C) would
leave the inner 3 at an ambient of near 80C.
Joe
Joe,
Good point. The temperature rises will stack up.
Brad
49. Gabriel - September 18, 2006
Hi,
Sorry for my bad english.
I have a doubt about the temperature rise limit.
What is the meaning of this limit, is due to material?
Could anyone explain how to x this limit and the origin of the limit ?
Thanks, Gabriel
Gabriel,
Please see the answer at comment 1c above.
Brad
51. Gabriel - September 18, 2006
Hi
For the FR4 PWB material i only see this data about temperature:
Glass transition temperature 135 C
Temperature Index 130 C
This mean that the maximum temperature could be 130 C, also for the
tracks?
If the ambient temperare is about 30 C, then the temperature rise could
be 100 C?
Could you explain How to decide how much temperature rise your board
can handle based on the operating environment and the type of PWB
material used, with these data?.
There is any application note, or abstract explain the limits for the PWB
material and the maximum allowed temperature for the tracks?
Thanks a lot, Gabriel
Gabriel,
You got it. You should not let the traces exceed the Relative Thermal
Index (RTI) of the PCB material. Relative Thermal Index (RTI) as dened
by Underwriters Laboratories UL 746B is the temperature at which 50% of
material properties are retained after a conditioning period of 100,000
11 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
hours.
http://www.ul.com/plastics/thermal.html
Brad
53. Tara - September 28, 2006
After reading through, Im still confused on the Temperature Rise. If I
have a board with FR4 material, it has to operate in an environment from
-20C to 85C, what are you saying the Temperature Rise should be? I have
traces on an external layer, 1 oz copper. Is allowable temperature rise
more a function of the board material or the environment?
Tara,
Actually the allowable temperature rise a function of both the board
material AND the environment:
allowable_temp_rise = max_allowable_board_temp
max_ambient_environment_temp
HOWEVER, the above equation assumes that the trace is the only heat
source on the board which is often not the case!
If you have other heat sources on your board, they will cause additional
temperature rise which will need to be subtracted from the above
equation.
Brad
55. H.S.Ramachandra - October 2, 2006
Dear Sir,
Is there any limitation on the limits on the voltage that can be carried
through inner layer tracks. Can we use inner layer tracks to carry 100V
AC. If so what must be the gap between the tracks.
H.S.Ramachandra
56. Brad - October 15, 2006
H. S. Ramachandra,
There is an excellent discussion about trace spacing vs. voltage near the
bottom of the page here:
http://pcbwizards.com/faq.htm
Brad
57. sandro - October 15, 2006
Hi sirs,
I am a pcb layout engineer.
Is there a signcant issue if i have sharp edge/corners on my copper
Pour/Area Fill?
How about 90 Degree corners?
thanks,
sandro
12 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Sandro,
Sharp corners on copper lls and traces can be an issue with high
voltage. The electric eld is much higher at sharp corners which may lead
to arcing. For air at Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP), the
minimum arc-over voltage is around 380 volts [1]. Higher altitudes and
di!erent gases can lead to arc-over at lower voltages [2]. However, for
low voltage circuits, this is not generally a concern.
90 degree corners have historically concerned some people with regard
to causing an impedance discontinuity in the trace or an EMI issue.
Douglas Brooks has done an analysis of this and shown it to be a fairly
insignicant e!ect [3]. Update Apr-6-2007: I have added [4].
Brad
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_voltage
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschen_curve
[3] http://www.speedingedge.com/PDF-Files/90degbrooks.pdf
[4] http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2007/04/06/e!ects-
of-corners-in-pcb-traces/
thanks brad
sirs,
can somebody explain the TDR (Time Domain Reectometry).
Thanks,
sandro
Sandro,
TDR is a big topic that deserves its own separate article. But for now I am
going to totally cop out and recommend that you do a Google search.
Brad
62. Vinoth - October 25, 2006
Sir,
Nice tool. Is there any program to layout embedded resistance in the PCB
itself ?
Thanks
Hi Vinoth,
Do you mean using the copper traces, or to embed physical components
inside the board? If copper traces, you may be able to use
calculator
For physically embedding, I do not know, but does anyone else have a
suggestion?
Brad
13 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
64. Joe - October 26, 2006
Hi Brad,
My customer would like to run 3 amps through a single or double sided
ex circuit 1 or 2 oz copper traces. The traces will have a .001$ coverlay
over them. Does this meen I need to look at the internal trace width or
external?
Joe,
My gut tells me a 1 mil coverlay should not make much di!erence in
temperature rise, so I would think it is safe to use the external layer
guidelines. Also see page 4-14 in [1] where the author compares the
thermal resistance through the board material to the board-to-air
resistance. He nds the resistance through the board is the much smaller
of the two, and his example is for a 60 mill board. I also found a program
for analyzing ex circuits here [2], but I have not tried it.
Brad
[1] http://focus.ti.com/lit/ml/slup230/slup230.pdf
[2] http://www.rogerscorporation.com/cmu/exform.htm
66. ken - December 15, 2006
could anyone explain surface arcing causing hi-pot test failure of Al
substrate PCB. will dielectric layer can conduct electricity or be in
breakdown or damaged by arcing
does anyone has experience on punching Al substrate PCB, our products
failure rate is very high during hi-pot test, which we think it is because
the puch damage the circuit and the dielectric layer. the circuit to board
edge is 1.2mm, thickness of Al substrate is 1.6mm, foil is 2 Oz, the
blanking puch has a relief in 0.8mm width to avoid touching the circuit.
(See Tips to Avoid Arcing - Editor)
67. Regit - December 15, 2006
What is the relationship between current and trace thickness? And, what
is the relationship between temperature and copper density?
68. Brad - December 15, 2006
Regit,
I posted the answers to your questions here:
Current vs. Trace Thickness and Temperature vs. Copper Density
Brad
69. John Yeager - January 2, 2007
I have a nagging question about the trace width calculator for internal
traces. Intuitively I would think that for a xed temp. rise, say 10 deg. C,
that the trace width requirement would change depending on how long
the trace is. If the trace is very short the internal dissipation would be
very small and the board material would act like a sink for small values.
As the trace length is increased the trace dissipates more energy and at
some point one would think the trace width would need to be increased
14 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
to maintain the 10 deg. C rise. Where is my thinking going wrong?
70. Brad - January 3, 2007
John,
Your thinking is not wrong. Many things like trace length, board size,
board thickness, copper thickness, number of planes, mounting of
board, position of trace on board, and airow can all a!ect the
temperature rise of the trace. However, this calculator is based on
IPC-2221 which takes the approach of modeling a typical board and
trace. See [1] for more information.
The length parameter in this calculator is only used to calculate the
resistance, voltage drop, and power dissipation, but does not enter into
the IPC-2221 temperature rise calculation. The Flomerics report
referenced in [1] nds that the formula in IPC-2221 correlates to a 4#6
inch board with a 6 inch trace running across the middle of the board.
I am currently working on detailed thermal modeling and nding better
ways of determining trace width, but for many years the method of
IPC-2221 has been used with success because it gives pretty
conservative results.
[1] Shortcomings of the IPC-2221 Current Capacity Guidelines
71. istro2000 - January 16, 2007
Congratulations to author(s)!!!
I was looking for such calculator now for few days and now I am lucky to
work with it.
It is a good idea!
Good luck to all!
72. Michelle - January 28, 2007
hi, I have a 16-layer board with 10mils trace width on internal layers. it
has 8 signal layers and 6 planes. I want to have 50ohm impedance
control matching on my signal layers but the PCB fabhouse cant make it
with the 10 mil trace and want to make it 6mils. But im hesistant
because my trace lenght is 11inches and Im afraid that the DC resistance
will su!er.. Do you have other suggestions aside from making my traces
narrower? thanks! -Michelle
Michelle,
To decrease the impedance of a trace, you can either decrease its width,
or increase the spacing between the trace and the ground plane(s). In
addition, you may use a PCB material with a lower relative permittivity of
the dielectric, but that may not be practical. Routing the trace on an
outer layer (as a microstrip) rather than as an internal trace (as a
stripline) may be another option. See the PCB Trace Impedance Calculator
here: http://www.emclab.umr.edu/pcbtlc/. You may also want to run
some calculations to see if the resistance is really a problem using the
PCB Trace Resistance Calculator
Brad
15 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
74. Joe - January 29, 2007
OK, the obvious question is
When will the calculator be supplemented with corrections are described
by Johanness article? Specically Section 2.3, item 2 and equation 5.
Joe,
As Johanness article did not give all of the required specic formulas for
trace width vs. current, I can not directly implement his methodology into
this calculator. I am however currently working on a thermal modeling
study like Johanness so that I may get all the necessary information to
create a better calculator and/or an online thermal modeling tool that
takes into account board stack-up and conguration.
I assume many people will want to continue to base their trace widths on
IPC-2221 because it is a public standard so I will keep this calculator
around. Others may want to use Johanness charts to get a better idea of
the thermal situation in their specic PCB format.
Brad
76. Jason - February 8, 2007
A number of months ago I used your calculator in reverse to determine
the current carrying capability of traces on my PCB. At that time an
internal trace width of 200mils (2oz copper, 10C temperature rise, 20C
ambient temperature) resulted in a current carrying capability of 5.435A.
When I plug in these same parameters today the result is an internal
trace width of 200mils has a current capability of 6.42A. Because of this
discrepancy I checked the IPC-2221A curves. When using the same
parameters with the IPC-2221A curves I get an internal trace width of
200mils has a current capability of ~5.9A. Am I doing something wrong
or has the calculator been changed? I apologize if this was discussed in a
previous posting. Thank you for the help.
77. Brad - February 8, 2007
Hi Jason,
Yes, some others have asked about this through emails, but I need to
post a comment about it, so thanks for asking. What you are seeing is
the result of the calculator being updated based on changes to the
IPC-2221 standard a while back. The standard now contains formulas
whereas before, it had just curves and I had to come up with my own
curve tting formulas to make the calculator. The calculator now uses the
published formulas. Curve tting to empirical data is not an exact
science, so the formulas will turn out di!erent depending on who derives
them. Also, the published formulas do not t exactly to the published
curve because if you look closely at those curves, you will see that the
scale is not linear or log, but some messed up hand drawn scale (done in
1954!), so it not very feasible to get an exact formula for a curve like
that. For more information about the ins and outs of IPC-2221, you
might be interested in reading Johanness article discussed above.
Brad
78. Syed Salman Murtaza - February 15, 2007
16 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Q. What is the signicance of the track size & copper weight for the
di!erent PCB parameters like impedeance, voltage, & current?
Syed,
Trace impedance is dependent on not only the geometry of the trace, but
also on the geometry of the return path, spacing between the trace and
return path, and the dielectric properties of the insulating material. The
voltage that may be applied to a trace also depends on the spacing
between the trace and surrounding traces, and the dielectric properties
of the insulating material. The current is a function of the cross-sectional
area and allowed temperature rise.
Brad
80. Ken - February 21, 2007
In message #20, Brendan says the PCB trace for a fused supply should be
rated for 160% of the fuse rating.
Does this assume there might be a steady-state current of that value, or
is this considering a dead short that would blow the fuse?
What temperature rise should be used for the short-circuit scenario?
Obviously the current would be very high, but only for a short time.
Re: Traces for Fuses
It sounds relatively safe to design the trace for 160% of the fuse rating
and be able to survive a short. My reasoning being, the thermal mass of
the PCB will be much greater than that of the fuse. However, since there
are many di!erent types of fuses, the best thing is to consult the
manufacturer of the fuse you are using and see if they have application
notes about the PCB layout.
You might want to look at link [1] below - they recommend using
additional copper thermal planes to help spread and dissipate heat in
traces that need to operate near the fuses rating for extended periods.
Brad
[1] http://pdfserv.maxim-ic.com/en/an/AN405.pdf
82. Princepk - February 26, 2007
Q) Is there a website where I can know all about Track size,
specications, limitations, its impact on the PCB etc etc.
Princepk,
There are some good resources here:
http://www.pcdandm.com/cms/
and here:
http://www.smps.us/pcb-design.html
Or try Google searches on keywords PCB, PWB, design, or layout.
Brad
17 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
84. Victor Vu - March 1, 2007
Hi:
Can anyone provide current pulse calculation for short duration. such as
10ms or so? I have seen in here the way to calculate the current for
continuous, not the pulse current. Thanks
85. Brad - March 1, 2007
Victor,
Youll need software that can do transient heat transfer modeling. You
might want to try Students QuickField available here:
http://www.quickeld.com/free_soft.htm
Brad
86. Rav - March 23, 2007
Hi Guys
I have a project were i need to design a loop antenna on piece of PCB
board, the frequency range is 868MHz, and i was to incorperate a loop
antenna, i was wondering how do i gure out the loop length and
thickness of the copper strip to make this antenna active?
87. Brad - March 23, 2007
Rav,
This note may help:
http://www.seapraha.cz/Download/AntennaDesign.pdf
Brad
88. EdwinB - March 27, 2007
Hi,
Is there a way to nd out how much current can a via is able to handle
with the geometries listed below?
FHS = 13 mils
Board Thickness = 185 mils.
1 mil barrel
other info:
Copper (plane) weight = 2, 3 and 4 oz.
Supply Voltage = +5V
3 internal plane layer (2, 3 and 4 oz)
89. Yusuf Motiwala - April 2, 2007
Very Nice!
Thanks for providing such handy tool.
Yusuf
90. vasavi - April 5, 2007
vasavi,
18 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
is there any di!erence between 90 degree bend and 45 bend while
routing(mens any signal loss is their)
thanks
91. kamil - April 5, 2007
sir i want to nd the complete description of a pcb so that i can make my
own pcb with no error , sir, i also want to mention that i am an student of
electronics an does not know whwt is a pcb
92. Brad - April 5, 2007
Vasavi,
With high speed design, 90 degree square corners can cause some small
reections because the trace gets a little wider at the corner and the
impedance goes down a bit. For very high speed designs, it is better to
bevel or round the corners. For more information, see:
http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2007/04/06/e!ects-of-corners-
in-pcb-traces/
Brad
93. Brad - April 5, 2007
Kamil,
Check these links out:
Coombs Printed Circuits Handbook
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Printed_circuit_board
Brad
94. kamil - April 8, 2007
thank u very much sir i got much more guidance from those sits re!ered
by u and i hope that u will always help for me
oog by sir , and God bless u
95. kamil - April 13, 2007
hi sir can u please tell me what is eld fringing?
96. kwanseok cho - April 18, 2007
Hello
Thank you for your pcb width calculate program. This program is very
useful and good. Can i ask you this program? Whats mean internal layer
and external layer? I dont understand these words. Can you help me and
explain that?
thank you. have a good time!!
97. Brad - April 19, 2007
kwanseok,
External Layer: Copper is on the outside surface of the PCB (may be
19 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
covered by solder mask). Internal Layer = Copper is buried within the
PCB.
98. kwanseok cho - April 19, 2007
thank you brad,
I have one more question.
Thickness mean only copper or inclued pcb insulation material ?
99. Brad - April 19, 2007
kwanseok,
The Thickness only includes the copper, not the insulation. Thanks for
the questions.
100. Rana - April 27, 2007
I seen very rst time pcb trace width calculator so my question is that
what is the thickness.
101. Brad - April 27, 2007
Rana,
I added a diagram at the bottom of the main article above.
Brad
102. Kob - May 1, 2007
Hi,
I really like what you do here - great help.
Just a comment though - there may be a javascript bug in the calculation
routines: if I change the copper weight e.g. from 1 to 2 Oz, the
Resistance, V drop and Power loss values are not updated. The Required
Trace Width IS updated. Tried in Firefox and IE6 - no di!erence.
103. Brad - May 1, 2007
Hi Kob,
It is not a bug. If you change the thickness, the width changes so that the
cross-sectional area remains constant. Thus, the resistance, voltage drop
and power loss do not change. If you need to calculate the resistance of a
trace of a specic width and thickness, try my PCB Trace Resistance
Calculator. Thanks for the question.
Brad
104. Benny - May 3, 2007
I have a simple question, hopefully it has not been discuss earlier. The
maximum peak current for my product is about 2.7A and average of
0.5A. i was wondering, should i key in the max or average current on the
Input Current. please advice
105. Brad - May 4, 2007
Benny,
20 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
The thermal time constant of the traces on the PCB is typically in the
seconds, therefore, it is advisable to use the use the RMS value of the
current. Also see comments 6 and 25.
Brad
106. Sukhwinder - May 9, 2007
Hi
i just wanted to know..if you have 2 oz 2mm track, at what temperature
rise will it burn away or break..
107. Brad - May 10, 2007
Sukhwinder,
Note that the acceptable temperature rise does not depend on the traces
size it is a matter of considering at what temperature damage starts
occurring. Damage to the boards insulating and binding materials
occurs before damage to the actual copper trace. This occurs at the
Relative Thermal Index (RTI) of the PCB material. At the RTI, board failure
progresses at a very slow but measurable rate. At higher temperatures,
failure happens faster. (Also see comments 51 and 52 above.) Copper
does not melt until 1084.62 C (or 1984.32 F) but it can certainly
happen with enough current. If a trace is heated until it peels o! the
board, it loses its main heat sink and the temperature rises rapidly. The
equations used on this page are based on experiments done far from the
melting point, so I would not expect them to accurately predict how
much current it would take to melt a trace.
Brad
108. wooolim - May 23, 2007
Hi..^^
I have one question about your calculator.
I read through IPC-2221 and I also saw a graph width vs. current.
But theress no equations related that graph..
Is that graph made using measurement results??
Then, you made this calculator after curve-tting that graph, too?
109. Brad - May 28, 2007
Hi wooolim,
The equations are in IPC-2221A. Also see comments 39 and 40 above.
Yes, the original graph was based on measurements. For some more
background information and discussion of the measurements, see [1]
and [2] below.
Brad
[1] http://www.ultracad.com/articles/pcbtemp.pdf
[2] http://www.omerics.com/otherm/technical_papers/t341.pdf
110. bahman - May 29, 2007
Hi,
I want to know about four-layer PCB design. Please give me some
documents about high-speed PCB design.
21 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
111. Clive - May 29, 2007
Hi Brad, can you verify my calculations.
I have a 6amp circuit on a 2oz exi board inside an aluminium housing
potted with a (reasonably) thermally conductive resin. The housing can
operate up to 80c. Applied current is 3 phase 6 AMP RMS.
I make it a track width of around 3mm if I allow 20c rise. However, most
of the tracking is ooded to the board prole where ever possible.
The circuit boards can be series joined up by soldering end to end.
However I have to bottleneck down to 1.5 mm every time I join one
circuit to another, and that 1.5mm track has to carry the 6A over a
distance of about 1 to 1.5mm, but is directly on the ooded areas either
side.
Your comments would be appreciated.
112. Brad - May 29, 2007
Clive,
Since the 1.5 mm width runs are only 1.5 mm long and are connected to
ooded areas, I would not be too concerned about the neck-down.
However, since your assembly is potted and the IPC-2221 guidelines are
based on boards in air, you might consider using a 2-D thermal analysis
program to nd a more realistic estimate of your temperature rise for
your assembly as a whole.
Brad
113. Brad - May 29, 2007
bahman,
See http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2007/05/29/four-layer-
high-speed-pcb-design/
Brad
114. Shawn A. - May 30, 2007
Are you aware of any calculations for conductors expected to carry
currents on the order of 200-1000A? Most everything I have found is
only reliable for calculations up to around 30A.
115. Brad - May 30, 2007
Shawn,
For 200 to 1000 Amps, I think bus bars would generally be used instead
of PCBs. I found this about bus bars:
http://www.copper.org/applications/busbar/ampacity
/busbar_ampacities.html
Brad
116. Steve - May 31, 2007
Any change to the Current carrying Capacity calculator for SPACE
applications ? Please advise ? Any derating factors included in the
calculator ?
22 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
117. Brad - May 31, 2007
Steve,
When I was designing power electronics for space application, we
generally used the trace width for 10 degrees C rise and internal layers
(even wider if possible). If you look at the original MIL-STD-275 spec,
that was the most conservative curve plotted. Plus, since there is no air
cooling, we gured it was like even the external layers were internal. No
additional derating factors were applied. We had thermal analysts making
sure the calculated heat from all the components and traces had an
adequate conduction path out of the board. Thermal-vac testing was also
done on all designs and I dont recall ever running into an issue where a
trace was not wide enough.
Brad
118. Tony - June 7, 2007
The temperature rise is somewhat of a sticky issue. I have an application
where I am designing a universal board where the customer can place a
device into a socket to burn-in. The current can vary from device to
device. The trace width is set (based on space limitations), the trace
thickness is set and the environment is set (150C). So my question is:
what temperature rise do I use to calculate the maximum current the
trace is capable of?
1) 10C as stated in Note 1C.
2) The allowable_temp_rise = max_allowable_board_temp
max_ambient_environment_temp (Comment 54). In this case 230C
(rating on material) - 150C (environment) or 80C
3) Note 3 in IPC-2221 (p38 next to chart) - permissible temperature rise
is dened as the di!erence between the ambient temperature and the
maximum sustained operating temperature of the assembly. In this case
150C (environment) - 20C (ambient) or 130C.
119. Brad - June 7, 2007
Hi Tony,
Deciding what temperature rise to plug in to the calculator is a matter of
deciding how hot you want your traces to be. Also keep in mind that 1.)
the calculator is not exact for all board congurations and 2.)
temperature rises from other traces and heat sources are cumulative and
stack on top of each other. If you are working on a design that pushes
the materials near their temperature limit, I recommend doing a formal
thermal analysis and verifying it by measurements. (Also see comment
46-48 and 70.)
Brad
120. Brad - June 9, 2007
Tom wrote:
Hi,
I found your PCB calculator and thought it would be very useful for my
next project. I am making a single layer circuit board and was trying to
determine the line width for my circuit. However, I saw that the calculator
shows amperage values for internal and external traces, and was unsure
of the di!erence between them.
23 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
My question is which value would I use to determine the appropriate line
width on my single layer board?
Thanks,
Tom
Website: http://tomsrocketry.com
Hi Tom,
The IPC-2221 formulas (which my trace width calculator is based on)
recommend using more copper for internal layers than external layers.
The formulas are also based on a two-layer board with a full copper
plane on one side that acts as a heat spreader. For a one sided board, it
is a good idea to ood the unused areas with copper to get a similar heat
spreading e!ect. Then, your traces will have a similar thermal impedance
to ambient as IPC-2221 external layers and you can reasonably use the
IPC-2221 guidelines for external layers to design your board. For more
insight, see [1].
Brad Suppanz
[1] Shortcomings of the IPC-2221 Current Capacity Guidelines
http://www.omerics.com/otherm/technical_papers/t341.pdf
121. Rana - June 12, 2007
Hi
I have PCB design and need antenna track 4 circle round coil and track
spacing 500um so I want to know what is the track width in mm or mils.
Thanks
122. Ori - June 17, 2007
Hi all,
I am looking for a calculator that will allow me to gure trace width
depending on input power for RF signals.
Thank you for your help!
Ori
123. Brad - June 18, 2007
Ori,
Try using the new Skin E!ect Calculator to nd the skin depth. Once the
skin depth is known, the e!ective trace thickness is the lesser of the skin
depth and the actual trace thickness. Plug the e!ective trace thickness
into the above trace width calculator.
Brad
124. Ori - June 18, 2007
Hi Brad,
Thanks for the very prompt reply! I got a very helpful result for me!
I do want to clarify couple of points though:
1. The skin depth only refers to 1/e of the current. Is taking only one
skin depths not a bit pessimistic, especially when using normal 1/2 oz
24 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
copper? Should I use maybe two (or something in between)?
2. In microstrip lines you always get the edge e!ect, where the RF
distribution is very un-even and the current concentrate near the edges.
How can I compensate for that e!ect when using the calculator?
3. Since the calculator only takes current as an input I assume that for a
specic input power and specic microstrip (or stripline) characteristic
impedance, I need to divide the power by the characteristic impedance
and take the square root to nd the current?
4. What happens if I dont have a large ground plane? If my ground plane
is only 10 to 20 times the width of the trace, does the calculation still
hold?
5. Is it possible to add to the skin depth calculator the ability to choose
di!erent metals?
Sorry for bombarding you with questions
Thanks for your help,
Ori
125. Brad - June 18, 2007
Ori; good questions. Answers:
1. While the current density falls by a factor of 1/e at the skin depth, you
have to integrate to get the resistance, and per [1], The resistance of a
at slab (much thicker than d) to alternating current is exactly equal to
the resistance of a plate of thickness d to direct current. So, I would
design the traces width based on an equivalent trace thickness of one
skin depth.
2. The edge e!ect was said to be small in [2], but you may want to get a
free copy of QuickField student edition to simulate your specic case.
3. Yes, somehow you need to nd the current. It will be a function of
both the characteristic and load impedances.
4. It depends on frequency and spacing. You would probably have to run
it in QuickField to nd out.
5. Yes, I thought I would add more metals to the skin e!ect calculator
when I get a chance. Probably silver, gold, and aluminum. Any others of
interest?
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skin_e!ect
[2] Proximity E!ect in Di!erential Pairs
126. LAKSHMINARAYANA - June 20, 2007
Hello,
There is a Track between two ICs. The problem is voltage get dropped. If
we add additional wire physically parallel to the Track it is working ne
(No drop).
Track width 5 mil.
Track length: 6323.48 mil
Supply current from the IC : 23mA
What would be the problem?
Thanks
127. Brad - June 20, 2007
LAKSHMINARAYANA,
You did not specify the copper foil thickness, but using the Trace
Resistance Calculator, I get:
25 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
(Thickness, Resistance, Voltage Drop @ 23 mA)
(0.5 oz, 0.614 Ohms, 14 mV)
(1.0 oz, 1.23 Ohms, 28 mV)
This is a pretty small drop, so unless your circuit is very sensitive,
something else may be going on. I suggest that you measure the
resistance of the trace with an ohmmeter to see if there is a problem with
the trace. If the trace resistance looks okay, look at the waveform on an
oscilloscope. Depending on the frequency, transmission line e!ects could
be coming into play and distorting the signal.
Brad
128. Felix S - June 20, 2007
Do you have or know of a Current Carrying Capacity of a Via given its
dimensions? Would appreciate if you respond.
129. Ori - June 20, 2007
Hi Brad,
Thanks for your previous reply. I have been playing with the QuickField
software, so far I havent got a good hold on it yet, but I am sure Ill
manage eventualy.
Regarding to my previous posting:
2. What I meant by edge e!ect is the way current is distributed on
microstrip lines at high frequencies. The current distribution takes the
shape of the letter U even when talking about non coupled lines (you
can see in reference no. 2 that the edges of both striplines are red
(higher current) while the centers are blue (low current), it always
happens above 100 MHz or so, and from what Ive seen since I last
posted here is that there is no simple answer to that, and the dissipation
calculation usually ignores it.
4. I have encountered somewhere (maybe in BeTheSignal website (which
you pointed to me , cant remember ) a rule of thumb saying that if
the ground is 3 times larger than the trace you can consider it almost as
innite from thermal consideration. I dont know If Id trust that, but I
guess it is easy to simultae in QuickField.
In addition I found in rogers-corp website a calculator which gives
impedance calculations and thermal losses at RF/MW frequncies.
Thanks for all the help!
Ori
130. Brad - June 21, 2007
Felix and all,
For estimated via ampacity, please see my updated Via Calculator.
Brad
131. Leif Fredin - July 18, 2007
Is there an equivalent calculator for traces on ceramic substrates ??
Thinking specically about Alumina 96% & 99%, and AlN .
132. kamil - July 19, 2007
What are layers in the pcb?
26 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
133. Brad - July 19, 2007
Kamil,
The number of layers in a PCB refers to the number of copper layers
sandwiched between the nonconductive layers. Many copper layers can
be sandwiched between the nonconductive layers. Copper layers can be
solid planes or have many individual traces.
Brad
134. Howard - July 21, 2007
I want to use a trace as a current shunt for monitoring current in a motor
driver. Your reference indicates that 1 oz copper has a resistivity of about
0.5 milliohms per square, which would seem to say that the resistance
increases for larger areas. Does this mean that I need 1000 sq in of
copper to create a 0.5 ohm shunt? What am I missing here?
135. Brad - July 21, 2007
Howard,
Yes, each square of 1 oz copper has a resistance of about 0.5 milliohms.
Large and small squares have the same resistance from one edge to the
other as long as they are squares and the current is distributed evenly.
Therefore, for a 0.5 ohm, you could use a 1000 squares in series i.e. a 10
mil wide by 10 inch long trace (although it may not be practical). You can
try it on the trace resistance calculator. Also, note the temperature
dependence as seen in the calculator.
If you have one big square copper plane and current is injected at one
point and owing out at another point, the current will not be distributed
evenly, but will be concentrated at the connection points. This makes the
resistance appear somewhat higher than the per square value. On the
other hand, the 10 mil wide by 10 inch long trace will have very even
current distribution except perhaps at the very ends. Therefore, the
resistance per square is useful for breaking larger shapes down into
squares and quickly estimating the resistance.
Brad
136. Sukhwinder - August 5, 2007
Hi,
Thanks for your earlier reply. i have another query. I have a track about 2
inches length. but the width is not unifrom. it varies from 2mm to 6mm
at some places on 2 oz copper. How should i calculate the current it can
withstand???
Thanks in advance.
137. Nigel - August 7, 2007
Is there a version of this pcb track calculator that allows for the skin
e!ect at high frequencies?
138. Brad - August 7, 2007
Sukhwinder,
For traces of varying width, the current carrying ability depends on the
length of each section. The narrowest part of the trace will be hotter. To
27 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
be safe, design the narrowest part of the trace to handle the current with
a reasonable temperature rise.
Brad
139. Brad - August 7, 2007
Nigel,
For high frequencies, you can determine the skin depth using the
calculator here:
http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2007/06/18/skin-e!ect-
calculator/
and then use the skin depth as the trace thickness in the above trace
width calculator.
Brad
140. Praveen Reddy - August 10, 2007
How can we decide the copper thickness of a track? Generally, what are
the guidelines for copper thickness on power supply boards?
141. Dave - August 10, 2007
My only comment is THANK YOU for making such an excellent, useful
tool available to us. I clicked on your sponsors link just to help make
sure that you dont go away
142. Brad - August 10, 2007
Praveen,
Copper thickness can be traded against width. Thicker copper leads to
less width for the same current and temperature rise.
Brad
143. Brad - August 10, 2007
Dave,
Thanks for the kind words and support!
Brad
144. Baskar - September 11, 2007
Hi,
My requirement for PCB is 2A at 28VDC, but my spec says that the trace
in PCB has to survice a 200ms inrush of 30A. Please anybody can guide
me how do calculate the trace width in such scenarios???
Regards
Baskar
145. kenny - September 19, 2007
Hi,
What are the features of teardrop on some pads?
28 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Please help me to answer it.
best regards,
kenny
Kenny,
Teardrop pads allow more space to run traces between pads while
maintaining some meat to the pad so the pad will adhere to the board
better even if the hole size is almost as big as the skinny dimension of
the pad.
Brad
147. Gayatri Kumar - September 25, 2007
Great !
This is a useful tool!
Can we use this tool o%ine ?
Gayatri,
Its okay to use this o! line. Just save a copy of this page to your
computer. However, I must request that you dont publish or redistribute
it.
Brad
149. Istvan - September 25, 2007
i would need a similar calculator, but for processor core power delivery
IR-drop and DC impedance calculator. For higher power processors, the
power delivery is done by a split plane (sometimes on the surface), and
not on a long narrow wire. The important outputs are the voltage drop,
and the DC resistance between the DCDC converter and the processor
core. both of them are connected to the split plane through lots of vias.
The inputs are the splitplane-shape, copperthickness, current, via
parameters. There are 50000 dollar software, to exactly simulate, but a
less accurate calculation would be also better than nothing.
Hi Istvan,
For I*R drop and DC resistance of planes, you can set up an Excel sheet
fairly easily to solve the 2-D nite element eld equations. Hopefully I
will nd time to write up how to do it. It is similar to but even more
simple than the transmission line calculator.
Brad
151. Istvan - September 26, 2007
Hi Brad.
thanx, it would be really good.
could you send me an email when its available?
152. Edmar - October 2, 2007
29 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Hi Brad,
First of all, congratulations for your job.
What can you say about keeping the solder mask open or partially open
along the trace? Is there an estimative of how much it can decrease the
temperature elevation?
Thanks a lot.
153. bill dreschel - October 3, 2007
Hi,
How would the calculation change for a pure gold trace, not a copper
trace?
Thanks for the great tool.
Bill
Hi Bill,
Pure gold has about 1.3 times higher resistivity than copper, so the Joule
heating would be correspondingly higher. The formulas could be
adjusted with some time and e!ort.
Brad
Edmar,
I dont have numerical estimate of the e!ect of the solder mask on trace
heating, but I believe it is a very small e!ect. I would not count on the
traces being noticeably cooler without solder mask.
Brad
156. J.R. - October 4, 2007
is trace the same as pcb thickness?
[J.R. - No. The pcb thickness refers to the whole board. Brad]
157. Martine - October 23, 2007
hi,
I would like to know where (fabricant) I can nd the smallest trace on a
PCB. Usually people can do .003. This is way to big for me. Is anybody
can help me?
Thanks
Martine
158. George A. Webb - October 31, 2007
Dear Brad,
I am designing a PCB for a combined electronic clock/calendar to run at
about 7.5v DC. I dont anticipate the max. current being more than 250
to 400mA.
If I use 0.02 inch tracks at 1oz of copper per foot, what minimum
spacing ought to be allowed between tracks? I hope I am right in thinking
that if I used tracks with 2oz copper per foot this would perhaps allow
even closer spacing?
30 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Is there a formula for this which takes into account the weight of copper,
the track width, and the voltage and current in the tracks, including the
case where the live supply track has to run next to the 0v return track ?
Also, any hints on size of solder pads for ICs and other electronic
components would be gratefully welcomed.
Thanks very much indeed for your track width calculator. As a 74 year
old who took up electronics late in life, I appreciate all the help I can get!
Kind regards,
George
159. Brad - November 2, 2007
Hi George,
For low voltage like 7.5V, the trace spacing can be as close as your PCB
fabricator will allow. Most fabricators can do 5 mil lines and 5 mil
spacing, but 8 mil spacing is a typical minimum spacing used by board
designers. I dont think traces would be allowed to be closer for 2 oz
copper vs. 1 oz, but you would have to ask your fabricator.
For pad sizes of ICs and other components, it is best to consult the data
sheets and application notes from the vendors. Most will provide
recommended footprints (land patterns). Most PCB layout software also
comes with a library of footprints for standard components and some
include a tool for generating footprints. Industry standards such as
IPC-7351A provide guidelines for designing land patterns. A free land
pattern calculator is available here: http://www.pcblibraries.com.
Brad
160. BUSHRA - November 6, 2007
hi, please tell me urgently
what is eld fringing in PCB?
Hi Bushra,
Field fringing refers to electric and magnetic elds that extend into the
areas surrounding traces and planes in a PCB. Theses elds are
sometimes a concern for radiated emissions.
Brad
162. Mike Palmonari - November 12, 2007
In designing traces on PCBs for high voltage circuits should the corners
be rounded, not 90 degrees, to prevent arcing? If true, what voltage value
do you start at for rounded traces?
163. gaurav - November 15, 2007
Hi, Im new in the design eld. Could you tell me what a!ects the
maximum track length of a PCB? If I have a rise time of a DDR 0.3ns and
Im using FR4 which has a delay of 1400ps/inch [Editor: I think you mean
140ps/inch], what factors determine maximum length of my PCB track
length and what is the formula for calculating it?
31 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
Gaurav,
In terms of maximum trace length vs. delay, it comes down to a question
of how much delay your circuits can live with. Then, just apply:
Allowed_Length = Allowed_Delay/(140 ps/inch)
where 140 ps/inch is typical for a microstrip on FR4
I will plan on releasing a web calculator for this in the future.
Brad
Mike,
Please see http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2006/12/19/tips-
to-avoid-arcing/ . To be very conservative, you may start worrying about
rounding traces at 250 V and up.
Brad
166. Steve - November 21, 2007
Hi,
I am going to be designing a circuit that will have relays that will carry
20A at 120V. The relays will be located as close to the output terminal
blocks as possible. Nonetheless, they will still need to be .125-.250$
long. With 1 oz copper, the calculator still estimates I need at least 1/2
inch width, which just isnt physically possible. I could look into 2 oz
copper, but that only helps shave o! a couple hundred mils.
Any thoughts?
Hi Steve,
You can use more layers, allow higher temperature rise, or provide a heat
sink. Ultimately, it is about getting the heat out.
Brad
168. Steve - November 22, 2007
Thanks, Brad. I am going to use a 2-layer board. Its a very simple circuit,
I dont want to bother with more layers than that. I can double up the
traces on the top and the bottom and I may be able to add trace material
away from the pins.
Heres whats odd. Say you have two points .125$ apart. If you create a
1$ by 1$ wide copper area that encompasses them, the current will not
ow through all the copper, just between the two points. Its hard to
conceive additional copper decreasing the overall resistance of the
connection when most of the copper is in the path of current.
Now, if I am using more copper more as a heat sink than to decrease the
overall resistance between the two points, that surely makes sense. Is
there any advantage to using a large copper area as opposed to a shape
that may nger out? Are there any issues to using high current for a
same line on both sides of the board?
One way around all this I may be able to use: some high power PCB relays
also have .25$ quick disconnect connectors on top for the power
32 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
connections.
Hi Steve,
As you noted, adding copper where current is not owing does not a!ect
the electrical resistance, but it helps to spread the heat. When designing
a PCB for higher currents, one must envision the heat ow as well as the
current ow. It is a coupled thermoelectric problem. Heat ow is
analogous to current ow. There is thermal resistance, a circuit path, and
a ground where the heat owing towards. In the thermal circuit,
ground is the ambient temperature. Copper is a very good heat
conductor that allows heat to ow laterally through a PCB and the
thermal resistance to ambient is proportional to the area of the heated
surface. Adding copper ll areas helps to spread heat so it can be
dissipated. I dont see a thermal advantage to ngers a solid area
would be better, but usually it has to be broken up by other traces.
Brad
170. Mike - December 6, 2007
Hello everyone,
I would just like to run my scenario past you guys and check that the
values im getting are correct -
Circuit voltage = 230VAC (50Hz)
Trace width = 2.5mm
Trace thickness = 2oz (im assuming that this is copper weight)
Temp rise = 10 degrees C
During the design I referenced standard BS6221 which indicated that the
tracks designed to the above specication could carry currents of 6
Amps. Now, I have been testing alternative devices that this circuit will
supply and have managed to source a cheaper component but it
unfortunately requires more current (highest measured value at 6.5
Amps).
This has driven me to evaluate my track widths to determine if I can
continue to use the specication above or, as I suspect is going to be the
case, increase my track width.
Thats when I stumbled upon this gem of a site. However, the values Im
getting here are completely di!erent to those I obtained from the British
Standard (BS6221) reference table.
Any ideas?
Cheers
Mike
171. Mike - December 6, 2007
Woops! Just realised that I was looking at the internal trace width
results. The external trace width results are what I was after and they
pretty much match the BS standard values.
Apologies.
Mike
33 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
172. Brad - December 6, 2007
Hi Mike,
Its good to hear this calculator ultimately lined up with the BS6221.
Brad
173. Yogasmitha - December 31, 2007
Is there any limitation with the number of PCB layers vs. PCB thickness?
Let me know if there are any standard documents which are available.
Yogasmitha,
The limits on PCB layers vs. PCB thickness are mostly up to the
capabilities of the PCB fabricator. For a good reference on thin PCB
laminates, see [1] below.
Brad
[1] http://www.sanmina-sci.com/Solutions/pdfs/pcbres
/Thin_Laminates.pdf
175. michael devine - January 7, 2008
what is the current carrying capacity of microvias?
i have a customer that wants to reduce their number of mvs within smt
pads, but they dont want to a!ect its performance.
is there an easy formula to follow?
mike
Mike,
Please see:
http://circuitcalculator.com/wordpress/2006/03/12/pcb-via-calculator/
177. The CircuitCalculator.com Blog Current vs. Trace
Thickness and Temperature vs. Copper Density - January
29, 2008
[] Regarding the PCB Trace Width Calculator [1], Regit asks: []
178. Tony - January 31, 2008
Hello,
This is a great looking tool and a well maintained site. Nice one mate.
I am a bit confused about the scalibility of my calculations, can you
please help?
A 20 amp, 2oz, external trace requires a width of 368mil for a 10 degree
temperature rise.
A 5 amp, 2oz, external trace requires 54.4mil for a 10 degree
temperature rise.
I have no problems accepting a non linear relationship, however:
If I place a total of four 5amp traces next to each other on a board
(seperated or not, I believe its irrelevant) I am essentially passing a total
current of 20 amps. The width required in this case would be 4x 54.4 =
34 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
217.6mils. Why so much less than the 368mil required for a 20 amp
trace?
Does this calculator assume that all other traces on the board are at
ambient temperature?
Regards,
Tony.
179. Brad - January 31, 2008
Hi Tony,
Four traces next to each other will cause a cumulative temperature rise
as heat from one spreads to the other. Yes, the calculator assumes one
active trace. When more than one trace are active, you get superposition
of the temperature rises.
Brad
180. Dennis Dombrowski - February 5, 2008
I noticed that the calculator does not account for voltage. I happen to
have a situation where I could potentially have to deal with 600V at 100
Amps. I realize the tool only deals with currents of 35 Amps max. Im
hoping to limit the current to well under that. But wouldnt the voltage
also create potential problems?
Hi Dennis,
This calculator just calculates trace width which is a function of current
and not voltage. However, trace spacing IS a function of voltage. Also see
Tips to Avoid Arcing and comments 55, 56, 58, 79, 162, 165 above.
Brad
182. Dennis Borowy - February 7, 2008
Copper Thickness Question:
Usually a 2 oz/ft^2 start copper PCB get plated up to approx 3 oz/ft^2.
The extra 1 oz of Plate-up typically has only 60-70% of Conductivity of
Base Start copper.
When I enter Thickness in your programwhat do I use for this example?
Hi Dennis,
Good question. I have heard that plated copper has higher resistivity, but
this idea seems to be based on out-dated PCB technology. You may want
to consult your PCB fabricator about this, but the information I am
getting is that plated copper in modern PCB processes in virtually as
good a conductor as the base copper.
That being said, if you needed to, you can easily nd an e!ective
thickness as follows:
For example, 2 oz base copper with 1 oz plate up at 60% conductivity
E!ective_thk = Base_thk + Plated_thk * pct_conductivity
= 2 + 1 * 0.6 = 2.6 oz
35 de 36 6/29/14 9:43 PM
184. Kevin - February 18, 2008
I need to calculate the trace width for single pulse current. The max. DC
current is 30A for 15ms. Can anybody please tell me how to dertermine
the trace width? Thanks,
185. hussii - February 26, 2008
what is eld fringing in PCB?. I know this is a very simple question but
please help me out.
[Editor - See comment 161]
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