NAMIBIA UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING: Electrical and Computing

ADVANCED LECTRICAL PRINCIPLES (AEP611S)

Introduction to P-Spice
Date of Experiment: 11 April 2019
Date of Report: 18 April 2019

Prepared by: Chanakira DM

Student No: 219149607
Contents
I. Introduction .......................................................................................................................................... 2
II. Objective ............................................................................................................................................... 2
III. Calculations ...................................................................................................................................... 2
IV. Simulations ....................................................................................................................................... 4
V. Voltage Sweep Results ......................................................................................................................... 5
VI. Results............................................................................................................................................... 6
VII. Discussion ......................................................................................................................................... 6
VIII. Conclusion ......................................................................................... Error! Bookmark not defined.

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 I. Introduction
PSPICE is a circuit analysis tool that allows for circuit simulation. The software allows for the calculation
of voltages and currents, transient analysis, frequency response analysis, signal to noise ratios, and
many other analyses. PSPICE generates a Netlist, which is a textual description of the way components
are connected in a circuit. The visual circuit description tools used for the purposes of this report are
Orcad – a software by Cadence and LTspice.

II. Objective
The circuit under analysis for the purposes of this practical is shown in figure [1] below:

Figure 1:Full circuit schematic under consideration

The objective of the first part of the practical is to use circuit analysis to calculate the currents and
voltages associated with the resistance R3. These are then compared with the values obtained from
PSPICE.

The second part of the experiment involves running DC sweeps on the source V1 and obtaining specified
graphs.

III. Calculations
A. Current through R3

Super position theorem was used to calculate the current 𝐼𝑥 passing through the resistor R3.

1. Open Circuiting the current source yields the following circuit shown in Figure [2] below:

Figure 2:Schematic with open circuit on current source

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Using KVL, the following loop equations are yielded:

22𝐼1 − 18𝐼𝑥 = −120

−18𝐼1 + 71𝐼𝑥 = 0
Solving the 2 equations simultaneously yields,

𝐼𝑥 = −1.745𝐴
2. Shorting the voltage source yields the following circuit shown in Figure[3] below:

Figure 3:Schematic with the voltage source Short Circuited

Simplifying the resistive network:

• R1 and R2 parallel combination simplification

• R1 and R2 parallel combination in series with R3
• Current division between R4 and R1 and R2 parallel combination in series with R3

The current division equation yielded is

𝑅4
𝐼𝑥 = × 𝐼1
𝑅4 + (𝑅1||𝑅2) + 𝑅3
50
𝐼𝑥 = × 8𝐴
50 + (18||4) + 3
𝐼𝑥 = 7.108𝐴
3. Superposition theorem used to find the total current through the resistor R3
𝐼𝑥 = 7.108𝐴 − 1.745𝐴
𝐼𝑥 = 5.364𝐴
B. The Voltages across R3

KCL is applied at the nodes V1 and V2 shown in figure [4] below:

• Currents out of the node are assumed to be positive

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 Figure 4: Nodes V1 and V2 used in the KCL

This yields the following equations:

𝑉1 − 120 𝑉1 𝑉1 − 𝑉2
+ + =0
4 18 3
𝑉2 𝑉2 − 𝑉1
−8 + + =0
50 3
Solving these equations simultaneously yields,

𝑉1 = 115.74𝑉
𝑉2 = 131.83𝑉
The voltage dropped across R3 is therefore calculates as 𝑉2 − 𝑉1 = 16.09𝑉

IV. Simulations
The circuit is simulated in Orcad, the circuit schematic used is shown in Figure [5] below:

Figure 5:Orcad schematic used to find voltages and currents for R3

The bias point calculations of the voltages and currents in Figure [5] is shown in Figure [6] below.

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 Figure 6: Bias point calculations of currents and voltages

A transient analysis of the circuit was also performed in order to fully quantify the results shown above.
This is shown in Figure [7] below:

Figure 7: Currents and Voltages associated with R3 on transient analysis

V. Voltage Sweep Results

The voltage sweep results requested in the practical guide are shown in Figure [8] and Figure [9] below:

Figure 8: Graph of I(R3) vs V(R3) with -6A indicated

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 Figure 9:Graph of I(R2) vs V(R1) with -6A point indicated

VI. Results
A. Bias point simulation

CALCULATIONS SIMULATIONS
𝐼𝑅3−1 𝐼𝑅3−2 𝐼𝑅3 𝑉𝑅3−1 𝑉𝑅3−2 𝑉𝐷𝑅3 𝐼𝑅3 𝑉𝑅3−1 𝑉𝑅3−2 𝑉𝐷𝑅3
-1.75A 7.11A 5.36A 115.74V 131.83V 16.10V 5.364A 115.735V 131.826V 16.091V

B. Voltage Sweep

I(R3) vs V(R3) Voltage at -6A I(R2) vs V(R1) voltage at -6A

81.896V 108.014V

VII. Discussion and Conclusions

The practical was successful. Calculated values for the currents and voltages for R3 are very close to the
simulated ones. The problem is that there is no information on the directions of current offered by
PSPICE, one must use one’s own discretion. The bias point simulations of the voltages only show
voltages at different nodes rather than the voltage dropped across the resistor; this was calculated. The
calculations also confirm the Ohms Law relationship for the current through and voltage across the
resistor R3.

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