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Multilayer Ceramic Capacitors
Capacitor failure can have catastrophic effects.
Between 1985 and 1988 when I was carrying out research
I came across several instances where equipment had
caught fire as a direct result of MLC capacitor
failure. Here is a picture of a circuit board which
was badly damaged when the 47nF decoupling capacitor
next to an I.C. went incandescent.
In another instance an identical board assembly had
a 25mm diameter hole burned right through it.
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In a previous
article I discussed MLC capacitor failure
causes. Here is a picture of a capacitor
which suffered thermal stress. We soldered
the capacitor to a PCB by hand then plunged
it into cold water. This is an extreme
measure but we wanted to see what thermal
stress cracking would look like.
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Here is a magnified view of the same
capacitor. See the vertical fracture.
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And this is a cross-section of a capacitor
which suffered similar thermal stress.
Note the crack which looks like the profile
of a mountain.
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M.T. Pickering B. Eng.
Copyright ©1997 Martin Pickering
Version 1.2 updated on November 9, 1999
This file may be downloaded for private and personal
use but NO part of it may be published in any form
without the prior permission of the author.
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