Grounding

Grounding:
Connecting return conductors of electrical circuits to a reference potential.

Grounding is one of the primary ways of minimizing unwanted noise and pickup.
Proper use of grounding and cabling, in combination, can solve a large percentage of all
noise problems.

A ground is a low impedance path by which current can return to its source. This
emphasizes current flow and the consequent need for currents always circulating as part
of a loop.

One advantage of a well-designed ground system is that it can provide protection

against unwanted interference and emission. without any additional per-unit cost to the
product.
 Purpose of Grounding
A grounding concept for electronic circuits, assemblies or even systems,
serves the purpose

• to avoid circulating EMI due to potential differences between mutually

connected electrical units of a system
• to provide an equipotential reference plane
• to prevent common mode coupling
• to avoid low impedance ground loops
• to protect against shock hazards owing to high voltages appearance ESD on
a frame or box housing by harness damage
 Types of Grounding
Grounds fall into two categories: ( 1) safety grounds and (2) signal
grounds.

If the ground is connected to the earth through a low impedance path,

it may be called an earth ground.

Safety grounds are usually at earth potential, whereas signal grounds

may or may not be at earth potential.

In many cases a safety ground is required at a point that is unsuitable

for a signal ground, and this may complicate the noise problem.
SAFETY GROUNDS

Fig: Chassis should be grounded for safety. Otherwise it may reach a dangerous
voltage level trough stray impedances (left) or insulation breakdown (right).
Fig. Standard 115v ac power distribution circuits has three leads
Fig. Combination 115/230V ac power distribution circuits has four leads
 SIGNAL GROUNDS
A ground is normally defined as an equipotential' point or plane that serves as a reference potential
for a circuit or system. This definition, however is not representative of practical ground systems
because they are not equipotential; also it does not emphasize the importance of the actual path
taken by the current in returning to the source.

It is important for the designer to know the actual current path in order to determine the radiated
emission or the susceptibility of a circuit. “To understand the limitations and problems of real
world" ground systems, it would be better to use a definition more representative of the actual
situation.

Therefore, a better definition for a signal ground is a low-impedance path for current to return to
the source (Ott, 1979). This "current concept" of a ground emphasizes the importance of current
flow. It implies that since current is flowing through some finite impedance, there will be a
difference in potential between two physically separated points. The equipotential concept defines
what a ground ideally should be, whereas the current concept defines what a ground actually is. The
actual path taken by the ground current is important in determining the magnetic coupling between
circuits.
 SIGNAL GROUNDS

Signal grounds usually fall into one of three categories: (1) single-point
grounds, (2) multipoint grounds. and (3) hybrid grounds.
Guidelines for grounding
 Don’t compromise on safety grounds
 Analog circuit grounds
 Digital circuit grounds
 I/O grounds
 Ground Map
Selection of a Grounding Scheme

The facts are that a single-point grounding scheme operates better at low
frequencies, and a multipoint ground behaves best at high frequencies.
If the overall system, for example, is a network of audio equipment, with
many low-level sensors and control circuits behaving as broadband transient
noise sources, then the high-frequency performance is irrelevant, since no
receptor responds above audio frequency.
For this situation, a single-point ground would be effective. Conversely, if the
overall system were a receiver complex of 30 to 1,000 MHz tuners,
amplifiers, and displays, then low-level, low-frequency performance is
irrelevant. Here, multipoint grounding applies, and interconnecting coaxial
cables should be used.
 Shielding
Shielding and filtering are two complementary practices. There is hardly any point
applying good filtering and circuit design practices to guard against conducted
coupling if there is no return path for the filtered currents to take.
The shield provides such a return, and also guards against direct field coupling
with internal circuits and conductors.
 Shielding involves placing a conductive surface around the critical parts of the
circuit so that the electromagnetic field that couples to it is attenuated by a
combination of reflection and absorption. Enclosures, cables, circuits and PCBs are
the parts that are to be shielded.
The shield can be an all-metal enclosure; if protection will be enough then a thin
conductive coating deposited on plastic is sufficient.
Why do we shield? The two reasons for shielding are as follows:

To protect the victims (such as sensitive circuits) from radiated emissions. In
many cases victims can be humans (biological hazards).
To reduce interference from culprits (such as noisy circuits, transmitters).

Shielding is often an expensive and difficult-to-implement design decision, because

many other factors (such as tooling, aesthetic, accessibility) work against it.

Shielding on a PCB/circuit level does not cost much but shielding on a larger level is
usually expensive compared to changing a PCB or even adding a few filters in the design
stage.
 Shielding and Murphy’s Law

The shielding costs much more with size. It is important to make the product cost
effective, which suggests – avoid shielding if possible.
If the layout allows concentrated interface, a ground plate may be adequate with
partial shielding.
Design for the possibility of shielding being required with a variety of shields in
mind i.e., with many options of shielding in hand.
Murphy’s Law mentions that the shields should have thickness greater than 0.5 mm
and should be rectangular in shape. Shields should be as large as possible (the design
permitting), and use different, irrational side lengths.
 Skin effect and skin depth
The important characteristic of the barrier material is its skin depth δ. This is the distance
into the material at which the current density has reduced to 1/e (0.37 or 8.7 dB) due to skin
effect. For every distance δ into the material the current density drops by 8.7 dB (approx. 9
dB).

The thicker the wall, the greater is the attenuation of the current through it. This absorption
loss depends on the number of skin depths through the wall. The skin depth is an expression
of the electromagnetic property that tends to confine AC current flow to the surface of a
conductor, becoming less as frequency, conductivity or permeability increases.
Skin depth (δ) = (π.F.μ.σ)-0.5 meters
where, F = frequency, σ = conductivity, μ = permeability
Skin effect and skin depth
 Skin effect and skin depth
Figure shows the skin depths of copper, aluminum and steel. For example, skin depth in
aluminum at 30 MHz is 0.015 mm.
This explains why thin conductive coatings are effective at high frequencies – the
current flows only on the surface, and the bulk of the material does not affect the shielding
properties.
It is therefore possible to reduce the current density by 18 dB in material with twice the
thickness (i.e., with two skin depths), and 27 dB if it’s thrice the thickness (i.e., with three
skin depths), and so on.
The requirements for an effective shield are high conductivity for electric fields and
high permeability for magnetic fields.

 PCB-level shielding

It uses principles similar to shielding modules.

 No holes in the shielding
 Use filters at the interface
 Consider the reference plane as a part of the shield
 Bond the shield to the reference plane at regular intervals
 Consider guarded striplines at entry/exit points
(equivalent to screened cables)