[PBO]

In a switching power supply, the voltage coming out of the O/P rectifier and into the O/P inductor is a positive-polarity square wave. The O/P inductor and O/P capacitor(s) filter that into a DC voltage. The current through the inductor is a DC level (which goes to the load) with triangle-shaped AC current riding on the DC level. The AC current is due to the charging of the inductor (during the switch "On" time) and discharging of the inductor (during the switch "Off" time). If things are designed properly and operating normally, the inductor never "fully" charges (saturation), nor discharges fully. Almost all of the AC current, several amps rms, goes through the O/P capacitors rather than to the load (if it did, the ripple voltage would be fairly high). While a capacitor's DC resistance is very high, its impedance to AC depends on the frequency of the AC. In the 100KHz range, that impedance is milliohms (thousandths of an ohm). By way of contrast, the effective resistance on the load in the computer is much higher (e.g., if the O/P voltage is 2V and the load current is 20A, the DC "resistance" is 100 milliohms). So it is entirely normal for the capacitors to be conducting several amps of ripple current, as this is due to the capacitors' smoothing action.

What is impedance? In a capacitor, it has 3 basic components in series with each other: an ideal capacitor; the ESL, equivalent series inductance, of the leads; the equivalent series resistance of the leads, the foils, and the electrolyte. Impedance is the vector sum of the capacitive reactance [1/(6.28xFxC)] X(C), the inductive reactance (6.28xFxL) X(L), and the ESR. At relatively low frequencies, X(C) is basically the impedance. As frequency increases, the impedance falls until the ESR is greater than the X(C), and the ESR is basically the impedance. As frequency continues to rise, the X(L) becomes greater than the ESR, and the impedance is basically the X(L). P/Ss and VRMs operate in the frequency range where the impedance and ESR are approximately the same.

If the capacitor is conducting ripple current, it is dissipating power (I^2)(ESR), which is heat. The higher the ripple current, the more the heat. If you exceed the ripple current rating, the cap will overheat, unless the ripple current is so high that hydrogen gas is being generated. So the failure mechanisms with excessive ripple current are electrolyte evaporation and evaporation- or gas-related venting.