LTspice IV Steady State AC Analysis

University of Evansville
July 27, 2009
In addition to LTspice IV, this tutorial assumes that you have installed the University of Evansville imulation Li!rary for
LTspice IV" This li!rary e#tends LTspice IV !y addin$ sym!ols and models that ma%e it easier for students &ith no
previous 'I(E e#perience to $et started &ith LTspice IV"
An Example Circuit
LTspice IV is capa!le of performin$ three !asic types of circuit analysis" In DC Operating Point analysis capacitors are
treated as open circuits, inductors are treated as short circuits and LTspice IV calculates volta$es and currents that &ould !e
displayed !y a )( voltmeter" In Transient analysis, LTspice IV numerically solves the differential e*uations that descri!e
the circuit and sho&s results that are typically seen on an oscilloscope" This analysis method is LTspice IV+s most po&erful
,realistic- circuit simulation method" It allo&s non.linear devices to !e modeled and is therefore useful in the analysis and
desi$n of non.linear circuits ,clippers, clampers, po&er supplies, s&itchin$ circuits, etc"-
AC analysis results are only meanin$ful if the circuit is linear" It uses a small.si$nal linear model for all non.linear devices
,diodes, transistors- and provides meanin$less results if these devices operate in a non.linear mode in the correspondin$
real.&orld circuit" There are a tremendous num!er of circuits that are linear ,all of the /L( circuits &e+ve loo%ed at this
semester and transistor and op amp !ased amplifiers are all assumed to !e linear-" In AC analysis, LTspice IV does a
comple# phasor analysis and can therefore !e used chec% the results of your phasor analysis home&or%"
0e &ill use LTspice IV to determine the currents i1 and i2 in the circuit sho&n in 2i$ure 1" The source volta$es are e*ual to
v1 3 10 cos,1000 t- V and v2 3 20 cos,1000t 4 506- V"
+

1 %7
1 %7 1 %7 1 8 1 8
1 92
v
1
v
2
i
1
i
2
2i$ure 1: E#ample (ircuit
The correspondin$ LTspice IV schematic is sho&n in 2i$ure 2" /esistors /1 and /2 are oriented in a$reement &ith the
desired current directions" ,;ote the small trian$les near one end of a component" These define the assumed direction for
positive current durin$ the simulation"-
The settin$s for volta$e source v1 are sho&n in 2i$ure 5" ;otice that the (none) function radio !utton ta! has !een selected"
<ny of the sources could have !een selected !ecause they have no affect on the source durin$ AC analysis" In AC analysis
only the AC Amplitude and AC Phase values have any effect on the simulation" <ll other values are i$nored durin$ AC
analysis" ;ote also that &e do not enter in a simulation fre*uency at this point ,that is done later-" The AC magnitude and
AC Phase are 10 V and 06 respectively"
1 of =
2i$ure 2: LTspice IV chematic
The volta$e settin$s for v2 loo% very similar e#cept that the AC magnitude is e*ual to 20 and the AC Phase is e*ual to .50"
2i$ure 5: Volta$e ource v1 ettin$s
<fter completin$ the schematic and settin$ up the volta$e sources" 0e are no& ready to run an AC analysis" (lic% on the
Run icon and the Edit Simulation Command dialo$ &indo& &ill appear as sho&n in 2i$ure >" elect the AC Analysis ta!"
AC <nalysis can !e done at a sin$le fre*uency or at several fre*uencies" 0e only &ant results at a sin$le fre*uency
,1000 rad?s-, so select List in the pull.do&n menu" In the te#t area at the !ottom of the &indo& add @A1000?,2Bpi-CD to the
2 of =
simulation command" ,;ote that LTspice IV e#pects fre*uencies in 8ertE, not rad?sec" ;o& I could convert 1000 rad?s to
8ertE on my calculator, !ut I let LTspice IV do the calculation for me" <s &e have seen in previous tutorials, the e#pression
must !e entered in curly !races"- <fter clic%in$ on the OK !utton the simulation &ill proceed" < &indo& similar to that
sho&n in 2i$ure = should appear"
2i$ure >: AC Analysis imulation (ommand
2rom 2i$ure = &e see that the I1 phasor is e*ual to ,F"75= m< 5G"=6- at 1000 rad?s &hile that of I2 is e*ual to ,="9>F m<
151"56- These phasor values correspond to steady.state time.domain currents of:
i1 3 F"75= cos,1000 t H 5G"=6- m<
i2 3 ="9>F cos,1000 t H 151"56- m<
;ote that !oth phase an$les are positive, so !oth currents lead volta$e source v1"
Phasor omain Circuits
Iou can use LTspice IV and AC analysis to o!tain results for phasor domain circuits" Just set up the simulation at a
fre*uency of J 3 1 rad?s ,f 3 1?,2K- 8E-" 2or an inductor &ith an impedance of LM use an inductance value of L 3 M in the
simulation" 2or a capacitor &ith an impedance of .LM use a capacitance value of ( 3 1?M" ,Let LTspice IV do the math Lust
enclose the e#pression in curly !races-"
2or e#ample to o!tain Vo in the phasor domain circuit sho&n in 2i$ure F, &e use the LTspice IV schematic sho&n in 2i$ure
7" <t 1 rad?s ,or 1?,2K- 8E-, the components sho&n in the LTspice IV schematic &ill have e#actly the same impedance as
the correspondin$ component in the phasor domain circuit" /esults from simulatin$ at a fre*uency of 1?,2K- 8E are sho&n
in 2i$ure G" The results indicate that Vo is ,11"51> V .>=6-" Nanual phasor domain analysis of the ori$inal circuit yields a
result of ,11"51> V .>=6- in e#act a$reement &ith LTspice IV" ,The LTspice IV simulation &as much faster than manual
analysisOO-
5 of =
2i$ure =: <( <nalysis imulation /esults
72 V 06
L70 7 .L>00 7
=0 7
=90 I
M
I
M
1F0 7
H
V
!
.
2i$ure F: 'hasor )omain (ircuit
Tips
Iou may have noticed that you can do the AC analysis at multiple fre*uencies" If you perform the AC analysis at more than
one fre*uency the ave!orm "ie#er &ill !e opened and you then pro!e the circuit to display node volta$es and device
currents as a function of fre*uency" This a very useful feature and &ill !e the su!Lect of the ne#t tutorial"
> of =
,a- ,!-
2i$ure 7: LTspice IV chematic (orrespondin$ to 2i$ure F
;ote the inductance and capacitance values used in the schematic"
--- AC Analysis ---
frequency: 0.159155 Hz
V(n002): mag: 30.!29 "#ase: -113.19$% &'l(age
V(n003): mag: 1.)191 "#ase: 135.001% &'l(age
V(&'): mag: 11.313! "#ase: -.999% &'l(age
V(n00): mag: 30.!29 "#ase: -113.19$% &'l(age
V(n001): mag: )2 "#ase: 0% &'l(age
*(C1): mag: 0.0)0)103 "#ase: 135.001% +e&ice,curren(
*(-1): mag: 1.2!9 "#ase: -)1.5!1% +e&ice,curren(
*(.2): mag: 0.0)0)103 "#ase: -.999% +e&ice,curren(
*(.1): mag: 1.2020) "#ase: -)3.0)15% +e&ice,curren(
*(V1): mag: 1.2!9 "#ase: 10$.3!% +e&ice,curren(
*/(u1:V0): mag: 1.2020) "#ase: -)3.0)15% su1c2(,curren(
*/(u1:V-): mag: 1.2020) "#ase: 10!.92$% su1c2(,curren(
*/(u1:*3A45-60): mag: 0.0)0)103 "#ase: 135.001% su1c2(,curren(
*/(u1:*3A45-6-): mag: 0.0)0)103 "#ase: -.999% su1c2(,curren(
7igure $: .esul(s fr'm 3imula(i'n 'f (#e Circui( in 7igure )
= of =