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2-22-2019

Extensive Review on Laminated Bus Bar for Low and High Power
Applications
Prashant B. T. Singh
University of Hyderabad

Phaneendra Babu Bobba

University of Hyderabad

K. Suresh
University of Hyderabad

Benny J. Varghese
Utah State University

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Recommended Citation
Singh, Prashant B.T., Bobba, Phaneendra Babu, Suresh, K., and Varghese, Benny J. “Extensive Review on
Laminated Bus Bar for Low and High Power Applications.” E3S Web of Conferences, vol. 87, 2019, pp. 1-6.
doi:10.1051/e3sconf/20198701009

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E3S Web of Conferences 87, 0100 9 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20198701009
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Extensive review on Laminated bus bar for low and high power
applications
Prashant Singh B.T.1,*, Phaneendra Babu Bobba2, Suresh K.3 and Benny J. Varghese4
1,2 Dept
of Electrical Engineering, GRIET, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
3CEO, MasterPCB PVT.LTD, KPHB, Hyderabad, Telangana, India
4PhD Student, UtahState, University, Logan, USA

Abstract. This paper explains about wide range of applications for Laminated Bus Bar used for high and
low power applications. Authors also explains ways to effective utilize laminated bus bar when compared to
conventional bus bar. Laminated bus bars are designed with low stray inductance and high capacitance with
a uniform current distribution in conducting plate. Parameters like Length, Width, material thickness and
other miscellaneous parameters effect Laminated bus bar performance. With a proper design of Laminated
bus bar it can best utilized , laminated bus bar are suitable for many low and high power applications which
are discussed in this paper. Replacing conventional bus bar with laminated bus bar additional advantages are
achieved like lighter weight, less space and lower maintenance.

1 Introduction 2 Laminated Bus Bar for Different

Applications
Conventional bus bars used these days require lot of
space and also create hazardous situations in many cases.
Many hazardous situations are due to weak connections 2.1 Inverters
between points or insulation failure and so on. Apart
from arrangement they posses more stray inductance and Inverters are used in many applications these days like
low capacitance which make the bus bar to create spikes power flow control, speed control of motors, power
in transient cases. Laminated bus bars overcome these factor correction and so on. But due to wiring and
problems by maintaing lower stray inductance and high soldering of switches parasitic value arises distorting the
capacitance on using different material and sandwiching switching waves. Due to these parasitic values stray
them in a suitable and required manner. Laminated bus inductance becomes higher and disturbs the switch
bar are lighter when compared to conventional bus bar. operations an distort the waveform. When replaced
Laminated bus bar there is minimal chance of sparking, conventional PCB with laminated bus bar the stray
wiring errors and heating effects [1] which can obtained inductance gets reduced which make the inverter operate
by using a proper material. Many applications today as better and additionally capacitance is also increased.
demands for low stray inductance, low weight, safe to Due to high capacitance and low stray inductance, a
operate, lower maintenance, low space requirement smaller snubber circuit can be preferred and heat sink
which can be fulfilled by using laminated bus bars. requirement also declines [3]. As a result, inverter
weight and space requirement goes down. A switched
This paper describes laminated bus bars uses in different oriented inverter bus bar is shown in Fig.1. Internally in
range of power applications and also how to modify Laminated bus bar the positive link and Negative link
Laminated bus bar based upon the performance obtained are isolated to avoid short circuit.
after simulations. Material used while designing a
Laminated bus bar makes the performance vary a lot so
special care need to be taken so, as obtain better
performance. By selecting a suitable material requitred
for operating temperature, operating voltage and good
reliable better performance can be obtained easily.
Certain models are described in section III. Models are
designed and are modified to obtain uniform current
distribution.

*
Corresponding author:[email protected]

© The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
E3S Web of Conferences 87, 0100 9 (2019) https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/20198701009
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Fig.1. Inverter PCB with Laminated bus bar the load or motor performance. The spike in the DC
links is due to the high stray inductance [10]. By using
2.2 Battery Bank Laminated bus bars with low stray inductance and also
high capacitance the spikes are reduced. These two
Many applications make use of energy storage device to parameters make the spike lower under disturbance or
fulfill the excess demand power requirement or as transient state of operation.
primary power sources like Electric vehicles. For a
dynamic grid and a renewable plant with dynamic power 2.6 Power Distribution
provider gives a challenging issue. With the growth in Higher power systems which carry more power faces
battery technology [4], it is possible to store fluctuating issues like spark at joints, transient spike from supply,
energy in battery and utilize it later. But dealing with more weight and more space. To avoid such problems
such high power requires huge batteries and also create laminated bus bars can be used. Due to low stray
the transient peaks in voltages. Battery banks serve as a inductance and high capacitance in laminated bus bar
primary source of energy for electric vehicles [5] which spikes are observed lower in transients state [11]. In
are in KWH. With growth in Electric Vehicle (EV) industries, high power requirement makes the
technology and awareness of global warming [6] conventional bus bar requirement huge and add addition
automobile industries are shifting toward electric vehicle problems. Laminated bus bars occupy less space for
with batteries as a primary energy source. Use of same power constraints.
laminated bus bars in EV make the power source free
from wiring problems occurring due to vibrations in 2.7 Industrial Automation
heavy vehicles[7] and also a good quality source free
from large transient spikes. Using the Laminated bus bar Robots which runs with huge power in industries uses
for battery bank makes them safer and allows for longer conventional bus bars [12]. But due to high power bus
operating time and posses a lighter weight. bar weights high and being dynamic in nature of work
makes potential create a hazard after a certain operation
period of time. On replacing conventional bus bars with
2.3Super Capacitor Banks laminated bus bars, weight reduction and hazardous
Supercapacitor (SC) have high power density and low situations reduce. Due to lower weight, industry energy
response time when compared to other power source like demands lower power for the same task. This makes the
batteries, Alternators, fuel cells and so on. SCs are used industries demands for lower energy and also reduce for
as a power source to fulfill high power demand in a short hazard situation due to dynamic body behaviour of
time generally at transient state. SC can also be used to robut. Save in energy due to lighter laminated bus bar of
meet dynamic power demand of the grid to balance same constraints make the lower power consumption
divergence of power between power plants and loads lower te energy bills and power demand.
with laminated bus bars possessing lower stray
inductance and high capacitance provide spike free
voltage in a short span of time. By using Laminated bus 3 EFFECTS ON LAMINATED BUS BAR DUE TO
bars spike free voltage is pumped to the grid in a short VARIOUS PARAMETERS
span of time. SC banks are utilized as hybrid energy
sources where weight is reduced [8] by replacing certain 3.1 Effect of Physical dimensions
range of battery with SC and life of primary power
3.1.1 Model A
source is also increased.
Generally models designed with lower dimension faces
non-uniform crowing [13] of flux and current in
conducting plates. Fig. 2a &b. shows a model and
2.4 Data Centers
current plot for the model respectively. On observing
Data centers where data is stored in a voltaic memory the current distribution the current is non- uniformly
which demands for a pure and constant voltage [9]. So, distributed which can be seen in Fig. 2b.
laminated bus bar as a power source distributer can make
the transient spike lower and in turn make data centers
safe by protecting them from fluctuations and providing
spike free voltage waves. Use of laminated bus bar in
data centers lead to safe and risk free operation, free
from wiring hazard situations which can also be
observed in conventional bus bars.
(a) (b)
Fig. 2. Model with lower dimensions and current plot.
2.5 DC Links

DC links used in industries or for inverters with a A new model was designed to make the current
conventional bus bar contains ripples and also add a uniformly distributed. Fig. 3a&b. shows the modified
spike in supply by which the wave disturbance disturbs model and current plots respectively. The current

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crowding is seen to be uniformly distributed and current crowding and uniformly distribute the current.
utilizing the whole conducting plate. Change in Flexible terminals are perpendicular to the plate so as
dimension make the plate to crowd uniformly and utilize make the terminal joints easy to connect. Fig.6. shows
effectively. the flexible terminals perpendicular to the plate.

(a) (b)
Fig. 3. Modified model of lower dimension model and current Fig. 6. Laminated bus bar with flexible terminals.
plot

3.1.2 Model B 3.3 Effect of Apertures

In another model based on current direction non uniform 3.3.1 Model A

crowding can be observed [3]. In Fig.4. the current is Models are designed with apertures to maintain the
seen to be distributed non-uniformly on positive and uniform current flow, lower stray inductance and operate
negative plates. The region nearer to the sink is crowded plate in heat limits. The apertures added in a model
and remaining region is fewer crowded making the non- reduces material used, reduce operating temperatures,
uniform crowding of the current. increase the durability and effectively use the plates [15].

Fig. 4. Simulated current for plot model B

To make the density of current uniform, sink is made as

source and vice-versa. The apertures seen in the model Fig. 7. Model A with no apertures
are bit farther from sink and creating a crowding of
current. Either by designing the apertures as required or Fig.7. is a model with no aperture and a flexible terminal
making the source as sink, the crowding of current is included so as to make the model make uniform
problem can be reduced. Fig.5. describes the uniform current distribution. Fig. 8. is a modified on Fig. 7.
current distribution as seen after operating source as sink Which includes a big aperture in middle of plates. By
and vice versa. adding a required aperture we could easily make the bas
bar to uniformly current crowding.

Fig. 5. Simulation of current plot for modified model B

Fig. 8. Model A with apertures
3.2 Effects of Flexible Terminals
3.3.2 Model B
Apart from the physical structure and dimensions, some
bus bar models have additional physical structures like Generally including apertures in the model doesn't have
flexible terminals acting as terminals of the bus bar, a significant effect on its current and inductance
made of conducting material [14]. These terminals avoid parameters. Apertures included in the model affect the
stray inductance directly but material reduction takes

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place. The stray inductance variations can be seen but

the change is not expected to be much [14]. These can
depend on position of apertures from edges and diameter
of apertures. In Fig.9. current crowding near apertures is
high and when the aperture is divided into many smaller
apertures, a decrease in the crowding of current can be
seen in Fig.9.

(a)

Fig. 9. Effect of stray inductance duet to apertures

To make the current uniform apertures were divided. On

adding more apertures stray inductance is also affected,
initially it was 17.1nH and it is reduced to 14nH. But a
proper care need to be taken while adding a aperture so
as to obtain a lower values of inductance and also
uniform current distribution. Improper arrangement of
aperture design make the inductance to increase rather
than decreasing which can be seen in fig.8.

(b)
3.4 Effects of Stray Inductance Fig. 11. Effect of distance between plate on stray inductance.

Laminated bus bars need to possess low stray inductance Apertures in model cause the inductance to reduce but only up
when compared to conventional bus bar. Laminated bus to a certain limit. Fig. 9. shows a variation of stray inductance
due to the apertures. Initially inductance had reduced to a
bar current and flux are not uniform. The stray
14.0nH from 17.1nH. In another model due to apertures, the
inductance analytical formula [16] is given by effect of inductance variation can be seen due to change with
frequency. Fig.12a &b. show the model and variation of
nH (1) inductance respectively between a apertures and a non-
aperture model. Change in operating frequency make
L= stray inductance of Laminated bus bar
inductance to effect suitable material need to be designed to
l= length of Laminated bus bar in inches operated as required [15].
a= dielectric thickness in inches
d= width of laminated bus bar in inches

Design 1 Design 2
Fig. 10. Laminated bus model with insulation and conducting
(a)
plate.

Fig.10. shows the Laminated bus bar arrangement red

plates as conducting plate andd yelowas insulation
material. Apart from stray inductance, mutual inductance
also exists between the plates. Mutual inductance
depends upon the distance between the plates. Fig.11
shows the variation of inductance due to change in
distance between plates.

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(b)
Fig. 12.Effect of aperture on inductance

3.5 Effects of Capacitance

The capacitance for laminated bus bar is given by an Fig. 14. Efect of material on capcitance
analytical [16] formula-
4. Effect of Other Parameters on
) pF (2) Laminated Bus Bars
C= stray inductance of laminated bus bar
l= length of laminated bus bar in inches The stray inductance is mainly depended on the width to
a= dielectric thickness in inches length (W:L) ratio. Current crowding is also indirectly
b= Width of laminated bus bar in inches related to W:Land also thermal effects [15]. Table 1.
Er=Dielectric constant of dielectric material used in describes the effect of W:L ratio on stray inductance.
Laminated bus bar.
Table 1. Effect of W:L on Stray Inductance
Change in area of plate, type of material used, thickness
Width (W) Thickness (T)
and distance between plate effects the capacitance [15]. W:T Inductance (nH)
cm cm
Fig. 13a&b shows variation of capacitance due to width 20 1 20 489.8
and distance between plates respectively. Apart from the 10 2 5 584.1
plate area, the distance between the plates also affects 5 4 1.25 633.9
the capacitance. Fig. 14. shows variation of capacitance 4 5 .08 633.7
due to change in material used in between conducting
plates. Table 2. Effect of D:W on Stray Inductance and Capacitance

Diameter Inductance Capacitance

D:W
cm (nH) (pF)
1 0.05 159.30 1.821
2 .1 159.27 1.751
4 .2 159.29 1.745
8 .4 160.18 1.618
10 .5 160.91 1.574
19.8 .99 182.81 1.101

5 Effect of Material on Laminated Bus

(a) Bar
Sometimes, laminated bus bar models designed perfectly
even with optimal dimensions don't work as designed
which could be due to material used. Based on working
conditions like voltage, current, ambient temperature,
working temperature and so on appropriate materials
need to selected based on requirement [2]. Due to
improper thickness used or excessive use of material
may lead to improper respiration of Laminated bus bar.
Many insulation materials are designed which have
better properties than those currently used in wires or
conventional bus bars. Table 4. lists different insulating
materials used for laminated bus bars. Conducting
(b)
Fig. 13. Effect on capacitance due to width and distance materials used are generally copper and aluminum.
between plate.

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Table 3. Comparison of different materials used in laminated markets-energy-electrical-energy-storage-

bus bar mersen.pdf
[9] Dclinks:Available:[Online]:http://www.busbar.com/
Dielect Continuo
ric
Dielectric
Minimum us use
industries/computers/
Material strength [10] G. Zou, Z. Zhao and L. Yuan, "Study on DC bus bar
consta thickness temperat
V/mil structure considering stray inductance for the back-
nt ure (° C)
to-back IGBT-based converter," IEEE conf. Applied
Mylar 3.30 7500 .002 105 Power Electron.(APEC), pp. 1213-1218, 2013.
Epoxy [11] Powerdistribution:Available:[Online]:http://ww
4 500 0.0025 ~ 130
glass w.busbar.com/industries/industrial/
Kapton 3.70 4600 .001 400 [12] Automobile:Available:[Online]:https://www.semic.c
Nomex 1.6 500 .003 220 z/_obchody/semic.obchodak.net/prilohy/7384/busba
r-1610110-287c0e.pdf
[13] H. Wen and W. Xiao, "Design and optimization of
CONCLUSION laminated bus bar to reduce transient voltage
spike," IEEE Inter. Symposium on Industrial
Paper explains the applications of Laminated bus bar in
Electron. pp. 1478-1483, 2012.
modern world for low and high power applications.
[14] Jianing Wang, Shaolin Yu and Xing Zhang, "Effect
Design of Laminated bus bar plays a key role so as to
of key physical structures on the laminated bus bar
effectively utilize its benefits. Aperture diameter and
inductance," IEEE Intern. Power Electron. and
arrragement of the apperture in the plate make the non -
Motion Control Conf. (IPMEC), pp. 3689-3694,
current uniform and also disturb the stray inductance.
2016.
Flexible terminal on adddition making the current
[15] M. Khan, P. Magne, B. Bilgin, S. Wirasingha and A.
uniform crowdinig. Change in frequency of the circuit
Emadi, "Laminated busbar design criteria in power
effect the stray inductance. Suitable material used to
converters for electrified powertrain applications,"
make the model to operate in safer operating region.
IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and
Change in material make the capcitance to increase.
Expo (ITEC), pp. 1-6, 2014.
Proper design of model with apertures arrangement,
[16] Formulas:Available:[Online]:http://jp.methode.com/
material used, operating frequency, thickness and
Documents/TechnicalLibrary/Bus_Bars_&_Capabili
flexible terminals to operate effectively.
ties_Brochure.pdf

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