PSPICE AND CAPTURE INSTRUCTIONS

for Power Electronics, by Daniel W. Hart

The PSpice Simulation Circuits

After downloading the PSpice/Capture circuit files from the McGraw-Hill website and saving
them on your computer, extract the zipped files to a folder of your choice.

Obtaining and Installing the Software

OrCAD demo software to run the simulations is available at no charge from Cadence at
http://www.cadence.com/products/orcad/pages/downloads.aspx

The demo version may be downloaded, or a hardcopy DVD can be requested. The user will want
to install at least OrCAD Capture and PSpice.

Running a Simulation in Capture

To run a PSpice simulation in Capture, start the program OrCAD Capture CIS.

Click the open icon in the upper left corner of the menu bar, or click file, open, project.

Project files end in .opj. Select the desired project file. Click the filename.dsn line and the
SCHEMATIC1 line to follow the tree to PAGE1. Double click PAGE1, and the circuit diagram
should appear.

The circuits were produced using version 16.0 and will run on versions through 16.3, the latest
version of the software at the time of this writing. When using version 16.3, an automatic file
conversion will occur when loading the circuit.
The simulation will be ready to run for each project file. Click the run icon to start the
simulation. Voltage and/or current markers have been placed at circuit points of most interest,
and these waveforms will automatically be displayed in the graphical program called Probe.

Component or parameter values can be changed for each circuit to suit the needs of the student
for homework results or for verifying design assignments. A general PSpice reference book will
provide additional simulation information.

Running a PSpice A/D Circuit File

Two files in Chapter 5 are text-based circuit files with the .cir extension. The three-phase voltage
controller circuit listed in the textbook in Example 5-4 is too large for the demo version of the
software. (The single-phase voltage controller circuit in Example 5-3 can now be run on the
demo version, whereas it was too large for some previous demo versions.) Start the program
PSpice AD. Click the open icon. Change Files of type: to .cir. Select the desired file, and click
Open. A text file with the circuit description will appear. Click the run icon. Edit component
values or parameters to change the circuit if desired.

Convergence and Library Errors

If convergence problems occur during the transient analysis, follow the recommendations on pp.
18-19 in the textbook.

Occasionally the author has had simulation errors of the nature Cant find library. General
instructions to remedy that error include checking the libraries that are included with the project.
Click the Edit Simulation Settings icon, then select the Configuration Files tab, then select library
at the upper left. The screen will look like
The first library listing will be for the specific project if part models (e.g., diodes or switches)
were modified for the circuit. More likely the error will refer to nom.lib or nomd.lib. If that
occurs, make sure the nom.lib or nomd.lib file exists on your computer. The path should be
c:\OrCAD\OrCAD_16.0\tools\pspice\library.
(16.0 may be 16.2 or 16.3, etc., depending on the Capture version on your computer.)

Add the nom.lib or nomd.lib library to your project if necessary. If the nom.lib or nomd.lib file
does not exist on the hard drive, it may be necessary to reinstall the software.

Unfortunately, this often does not fix the problem. The file nom.lib or nomd.lib is displayed in
the Configuration Files list and also exists on the hard drive, and an error still occurs. The author
has not been able to solve that error problem. In that case, copying the project into a new project
is the solution of last resort.