MLSC designed to reduce failure caused by excessive bending in automotive environments

Stocked by TTI Europe, Murata’s GCD series of MLSCs (multilayer series capacitors) is AEC-Q200 compliant. This range is designed to reduce failure of electronic equipment caused by excessive bending in automotive environments. In harsh environments such as automotive electronics, capacitors mounted on a PCB are often subjected to strong bending forces which cause cracks in the part. Typically, the cracks occur across the corners of the capacitor which are in contact with the solder. In an MLSC, such a crack would not cause failure of the part, but would disable only one of the capacitors in the package, leaving the other one intact and functioning. After one side of the part has been cracked, the mechanical stress on the part is mitigated and it's unlikely that a similar crack will affect the other capacitor. The structure of MLSCs therefore vastly improves reliability of these parts - the series is designed to keep its rated voltage despite any cracks, in order to meet the needs of demanding applications such as battery lines. The company’s series covers voltage range of 16Vdc to 100Vdc and the capacitance range of 1000pF to 0.5uF.