Current sense resistors combine high power and wide resistance range for better accuracy

Vishay Intertechnology has introduced new Automotive Grade Power Metal Plate current sense resistors featuring 2W and 3W power ratings in 2010 and 2512-sized packages. Targeted at current sensing and pulse applications in power supplies, power amplifiers, instruments, shunts, power inverters, and battery management circuitry, the new WFM resistors enable designers to utilise a single high power resistor instead of running multiple resistors in parallel, which can create current measurement errors. By consequently improving power density, the WFM also improves space savings on the circuit board that will, in turn, allow smaller and lighter products for the end consumer.

The WFM devices offer a construction that combines an improved thermal management design using a copper heat spreader, resulting in 2W and 3W resistors in the 2010 and 2512 package sizes that preserve the superior electrical characteristics of the Power Metal Plate construction. A proprietary processing technique allows a broad range of low resistance values from 5mOhm to 500mOhm, with tolerances down to ±1%.

The devices are excellent for all varieties of current sensing and pulse applications in automotive electronic controls, brushless DC motor controls, and battery management for electric and hybrid vehicles; high power inverter/converter controls and large motor drives for industrial applications; inverter control for consumer appliances and HVAC systems; power supplies for downhole instrumentation; and power management, conversion, and safety in servers and other computing applications.