I want to simulate a 230V ac power supply in LTSpice IV. Apparently LTSpice requires to input the voltage amplitude in some special format – e.g. for 230V you have to input 325 as amplitude (at least that's what some credible posts on forums suggest). However, if I simulate such a power source, I get the voltage wave up to 325V, whereas I want the results to be in 230V format.
So, does LTSpice require the AC voltage amplitude in some special format?
If so, how do I get the correct visual plot results?
Best Answer
The 230V is RMS voltage, which for a sine wave, is \$\frac{V_{PEAK}}{\sqrt{2}}\$. SPICE takes the voltage as peak volts, so whatever RMS sine wave voltage you want, just multiply it by ~1.414 and use that.
You may as well get used to converting back and forth between RMS, peak, and peak-to-peak voltage- you'll need to do so early and often.
230V RMS, 325V peak and 650V peak-to-peak all describe the same sine wave.
Frequency is given in Hz rather than radians/second, but you'll also often have to convert between frequency and angular frequency (by multiplying by \$2\cdot\pi\$ for angular frequency since there are \$2\pi\$ radians in a circle ).
Here is an introductory tutorial on LTSPICE from a Canadian University (Laurier).