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Mec 4

The document describes how to use LTspice simulation software to simulate various circuit analyses. It provides instructions on installing LTspice and running sample circuits to perform DC operating point, transient, AC, and parametric analyses. Components covered include resistors, capacitors, inductors, voltage and current sources. The document aims to familiarize users with LTspice's capabilities and interface.

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30 views4 pages

Mec 4

The document describes how to use LTspice simulation software to simulate various circuit analyses. It provides instructions on installing LTspice and running sample circuits to perform DC operating point, transient, AC, and parametric analyses. Components covered include resistors, capacitors, inductors, voltage and current sources. The document aims to familiarize users with LTspice's capabilities and interface.

Uploaded by

shouryapsingh1232
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Experiment 4: Introduction to Circuit Simulation Using LTspice

A. Aim
To get acquainted with LTspice and various simulation types those are available in
LTspice

B. Components
Voltage sources
Current Sources
Resistors
Capacitors
Inductors

C. Introduction
Engineers use software tools for the design and analysis of circuits. The software tools help to
simulate the behavior of electronic circuits in different operating conditions, and support the
design of circuits before actually building them using hardware.

SPICE (Simulation Program for Integrated Circuits Emphasis) is widely used circuit design
and analysis software in industry. SPICE was developed in the late 1970’s by University of
California at Berkeley to design and analyze ICs. In the original SPICE, a circuit (all its
components and them inter connection) is described using a text file called netlist.

Currently there are several derivatives of the original SPICE developed by different companies.
Some of the popular derivatives of SPICE are Pspice (from OrCAD/Cadence), Hspice (from
Avanti/Synopsys), LTspice (from Linear Technology) and others.

In this experiment, we will introduce the basic functions of LTspice by simulating circuits that
we build in the experiments. LTspice is a powerful and fast software and has a schematic
capture, which is a GUI (graphical user interface) that is used to enter the circuit for simulation
using graphical symbols of components and wires.

LTspice can be used to run several types of simulations. These types of simulation include:

DC operating point
Transient Analysis
AC Analysis
DC Sweep
Noise
DC transfer

D. Installing LTspice
LTspice is freely available software and can be downloaded from the website of Linear
Technology. To download LTspice
visit http://www.linear.com/designtools/software/ltspice.jsp
Select the Register on No Thanks option
Run the LTspiceIV.exe file on your computer
Install LTSpice

E. A Few Useful Shortcuts

F. Runs

Run 1 (DC Operating Point Simulation)

This type of simulation gives the value of voltages and currents through nodes and components
for a fixed input operating condition. The simulation results are given in text format.

1. Create the above circuit in LTspice and simulate it in DC operating point simulation
mode.
2. Once the simulation is over, you will notice that a simple window pops up showing the
value of voltages and currents through nodes. Go through these values and try to
correlate them with the theoretical values those you can obtain using Millman'stheorem.
3. When you close the pop up window, you can still be able to observe the voltage and
current values by hovering the mouse over the component of your interest. So, this time
observe the voltage, current, and power dissipated in 4-ohm resistor using the mouse.
4. Can you observe any anomaly in the observed current? If so, how can you guess the
direction in which the current is flowing in 4-ohm resistor?
5. Also, observe the power dissipated by the 28 V battery. Is it positive or negative?

Run 2 (Implementing Variable Resistors)


1. Create the above circuit how you normally would, with normal resistors.
2. Set the value of resistor that you want to be variable, to be {R5}.
3. Click on .op (far right on the toolbar) and type:
.step param R5 1 5 1 (steps from 1 to 5 ohm in 1ohm increments)
4. Once the circuit is complete, go to the tool bar and click on simulate -> run (or right click-
> run), go to the ‘DC op pnt’ tab and click OK. The simulation window will pop up. Click
on the output node (i.e., the connecting point between R4 and R5) to see the output voltage
as a function of variable resistor R5. Verify whether the plot is correct or not.
5. Similarly, plot current flowing through R5 by clicking on the R5 resistor. Verify whether
the plot is correct or not.

Run 3 (DC Sweep Simulation)

1. In this run, we will see how to use “. dc” directive to sweep either current or voltage DC
sources. Remember that the directive “.step param” is more general compared to “. dc”
directive. Using the directive “. step param”, you can sweep any defined parameter whereas
the directive “. dc” can be used only with DC voltage and current sources!
2. After setting up the above circuit, select Edit Simulation Cmd from the Simulation menu.
3. Choose simulation type as DC Sweep and set Name of 1st Source to Sweep as V7. Let the
sweep type be “Linear” and choose start, stop, and increment values as 1, 10, and 1
respectively as shown in the above figure.
4. Now start the simulation by clicking on the Start Simulation icon in the toolbar or by
selecting Run from the Simulate menu. A new graph window should appear above the
schematic window. You can now click on nodes in the schematic window and the
corresponding node voltage (as a function of V7) will be plotted in the graph window.

Run 4 (Transient Analysis)


1. Create the above circuit in
LTspice. Make sure that the value of capacitor is 1 F and the initial condition
(i.e., voltageacross the capacitor) is 1 V as shown in the above circuit.
2. After setting up the circuit, select Edit Simulation cmd from the Simulation menu.
3. There are a large number of options in this window and they must be set
correctly in orderto get correct results. We want to simulate out to 5-10 time
constants so that we can see thecapacitor voltage settle down to its final value.
The time constant for the circuit shown above is 1 s. So, in the figure, the Stop
Time has been set to 10 s which corresponds to 10time constants.
4. The Time to Start Saving Data and the Maximum Time Step are left blank and
they will assume their default values.
5. Now start the simulation by clicking on the Start Simulation icon in the toolbar
or by selecting Run from the Simulate menu. A new graph window should
appear above the schematic window. You can now click on nodes in the
schematic window and the corresponding node voltage will be plotted in the
graph window.

Run 5 (AC Analysis)

1. Create the above circuit in LTspice. Set the value of AC voltage source as 1 V
with DC offset equal to 0 V. Let the values of resistor and inductor be 220
ohms and 100 mH, respectively.
2. Choose simulation type as AC Analysis and let the Type of Sweep Be Octave.
Choose theNumber of Points per Octave, Start Frequency, and Stop Frequency
values as 10, 10, and 10e6, respectively as shown in the above figure.

3. Now start the simulation and plot the output voltage (as a function of frequency). Note
down the 3 dB frequency and verify whether it is matching with the theoretical value
or not.

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