Design Considerations (Continued)
The LM78MXX/LM341XX regulators have internal thermal
shutdown to protect the device from over-heating. Under all
possible operating conditions, the junction temperature of
the LM78MXX/LM341XX must be within the range of 0˚C to
125˚C. A heatsink may be required depending on the maximum power dissipation and maximum ambient temperature
of the application. To determine if a heatsink is needed, the
power dissipated by the regulator, P
D
, must be calculated:
I
IN
=
I
L+IG
P
D
=
(V
IN−VOUT)IL+VINIG
shows the voltages and currents which are present in the
circuit.
The next parameter which must be calculated is the maximum allowable temperature rise, T
R
(max):
θ
JA
=
TR (max)/P
D
If the maximum allowable value for θJA˚C/w is found to be
≥60˚C/W for TO-220 package or ≥92˚C/W for TO-252 package, no heatsink is needed since the package alone will dissipate enough heat to satisfy these requirements. If the calculated value for θ
JA
fall below these limits, a heatsink is
required.
As a design aid,
Table 1
shows the value of the θJAof
TO-252 for different heatsink area. The copper patterns that
we used to measure these θ
JA
are shown at the end of the
Application Note Section. reflects the same test results as
what are in the
Table 1
shows the maximum allowable power dissipation vs. ambient temperature for theTO-252 device. shows the maximum
allowable power dissipation vs. copper area (in
2
) for the
TO-252 device. Please see AN1028 for power enhancement
techniques to be used with TO-252 package.
TABLE 1. θ
JA
Different Heatsink Area
Layout Copper Area Thermal Resistance
Top Sice (in
2
)* Bottom Side (in2)(θJA, ˚C/W) TO-252
1 0.0123 0 103
2 0.066 0 87
3 0.3 0 60
4 0.53 0 54
5 0.76 0 52
61047
7 0 0.2 84
8 0 0.4 70
9 0 0.6 63
10 0 0.8 57
11 0 1 57
12 0.066 0.066 89
13 0.175 0.175 72
14 0.284 0.284 61
15 0.392 0.392 55
16 0.5 0.5 53
*
Tab of device attached to topside copper
DS010484-23
FIGURE 1. Cross-sectional view of Integrated Circuit
Mounted on a printed circuit board. Note that the case
temperature is measured at the point where the leads
contact with the mounting pad surface
DS010484-24
FIGURE 2. Power Dissipation Diagram
www.national.com7