Why Is The PCB Manufacturing Process So Essential?

mwcms on July 11, 2022

When trying to understand how a printed circuit board works and its application, it’s essential to know the manufacturing process. Learning about the manufacturing process of PCBs can help you gain a more insightful understanding of the circuit board’s functioning. The manufacturing process for printed circuit boards introduces you to some of the most fundamental concepts of the PCB design.

Basic Board Structure

The PCB consists of multiple layers, and these layers also impact the manufacturing process. The critical layers of the printed circuit board include the copper layers. These are where you will find the traces. The traces are the wires within the circuit that connect the different components.

In a two-layered circuit board, you will have a top copper layer and a bottom copper layer. Between the two layers, you will find a dielectric material that is made of fiberglass. This fiberglass material is also called the Substrate, and engineers often refer to it as FR4.

In addition to that, most boards also contain a layer that sits on top of the copper, as well as on the bottom of it. This layer is called Soldermask, and it is a critical aspect of the PCB manufacturing process.

Soldermask

Soldermask is a layer of insulation that sits on top of the copper so that the components on the board are not in contact with each other. Very often, you can also find a layer of silkscreen on top of the printed circuit board. This silkscreen is text that allows you to identify the components inside a PCB.

The solder mask is the green layer of material that you find on PCBs. Whenever you have exposed copper on the PCB, you can apply a solder mask to it. The manufacturing process also involves making holes inside printed circuit boards, called through-holes.

These holes are plated through the board, with copper all the way through. These are the sorts of things that manufacturers will typically solder through. There are other types of holes, and engineers will call them Via.

Vias connect a wire on one layer to another layer. If you look at a board carefully, you will have lighter green areas and darker green areas. Where you have lighter green areas, you will find copper sitting on top of the FR4 Substrate.

Silkscreen

Copper on a printed circuit board is effectively on a large plane and traces. The silkscreen sits on top of the highest layer, which gives the reflection of the lighter colors on the board. Darker areas on the copper are simply solder mask and Substrate.

Manufacturing a Multilayered Board

In a multilayered board, what you have is a sandwich of individual boards. In other words, creating a multilayered board will require you to stack one board on top of another. A motherboard inside a computer can have about 16 layers which are very complex.

The Significance of the Process

The PCB process is incredibly complex. It encompasses multiple steps, and there are incredibly large boards with multiple different designs that are flowing through the factory. In today’s world, highly automated and large-scale machines make it possible to produce high volumes of Printed Circuit Board in a single day. This simple phenomenon has expanded the growth of technological innovations around the world, giving way to the acceleration of mechanical and electronic progress.

Printed Circuit Boards – a Core Component for Electronics

mwcms on June 30, 2022

Have you just bought a shiny new mother board for your PC? If yes, then you might have noticed the small traces on the mother board. These traces are critical components connecting all of your sockets, headers, and components. This board is present in almost all electronic components and is responsible for making them light up and function correctly.

Before they became widespread, connecting the entire electrical component inside an appliance required bulky wires and a big mess of components. Therefore, printed circuit boards paved the way for the miniaturization of electronics and their efficiency.

A Resounding Idea

The idea of embedding wires on a flat piece of fiberglass became widely used as years progressed. The PCB invention made it possible for people to fit a highly complex device such as a smartphone inside your pocket. It allows engineers to pack up some of the most critical connections in a very small space. The process is similar to the manufacturing of CPUs.

The Design and Manufacturing of PCBs

When making the printed circuit board, layers of fiberglass are stacked on each other with resin so that they become a single slab. After that, copper material goes on each side of this slab. Following this, a pattern that aligns exactly with the traces is supposed to go on the copper layer placed on top.

After this step, the PCB goes through the etching process, along with further washing. This process is highly meticulous and performed in layers with the help of specialized machinery and computer-aided design simulators. During the manufacturing process inside industries, drills create small holes in this board to accommodate connections for small electrical components such as capacitors, chips, and resistors.

Overview

After PCBs get all the components connected onto them, they become a connection unit of all electrical connections on a substrate. You do not need any manufacturing processes to make a simple PCB. You can also find markers that will dispense conductive ink onto special paper. This will allow you to draw a working PCB at home.

It is also important to note that each printed circuit board will vary in shape, size, layers, and components according to the electronic item. Some electronics are simple and do not have multiple functions, while others are highly functional with multiple purposes. In terms of smart phones, the design of the phone will also influence the PCB.

In the 1990s, PCBs saw a decrease as computer-aided design and manufacturing became more prominent. BGA became introduced in the mid-1990s and allowed higher component densities and overall board miniaturization. In the 2000s, PCBs have not only become smaller and lighter, they now have higher layer counts and are more complex. Multilayered designs allow for more functionality in electronic devices. They also have an increasingly lower cost. 2006 saw prohibitions towards the use of lead, which took the lead components out of the solder used to place components.

Conclusion

Today, modern circuit assemblies represent the biggest densities of any assembly in the history of circuit assemblies. This has been a long history, and PCBs have come a long way since the primitive assemblies in 1903. While it is not possible to talk about the future, it is safe to say that circuit board assemblies will continue to miniaturize, and the processes will evolve further.

Why are Circuit Board Assemblies Printed?

mwcms on May 25, 2022

Before the invention of printed circuit boards, electronic components inside a device were subject to manual connectivity, using wires. This manual construction accounted for many challenges in the manufacturing system.  These circuits were extremely complex and difficult to manage. Not to mention, repairing a damaged circuit was a tedious task, and often times not reliable. In 1936, Paul Eisler, who was a brilliant engineer that worked in a newspaper company acknowledged the issues of the old circuit board assembly.

This allowed him to give birth to a new concept of printing on circuit board assemblies. He introduced a printed copper circuit on a non-conductive board. This formed a board with traces, and on top of these traces, you could connect electrical components. The very first PCB manufactured looked nothing like a modern PCB, even though both follow the same mechanism. Modern PCBs are much more sophisticated, smaller, and complex.

Manufacturing process

When manufacturing PCB of today, you have to start from a simple copper flat sheet.  The manufacturing process and complete circuit board assembly turns the copper sheet into a sophisticated printed circuit board in a detailed manner. To start off, a layer of copper foil laminates on a flat sheet of glass fiber material. The glass fiber material offers mechanical support, and it remains with it until the manufacturing process ends.

Drilling Process

Once the aluminum sheet is arranged, it undergoes the drilling process. In this stage of the process, the printed circuit board undergoes registration holes on each side of the board. These holes act as the reference point for the alignment processes which will come ahead in the manufacturing. While the foundational board is being drilled, an engineer uses computer simulation software to design the circuit.

You can find many computer-aided platforms that allow you to create design files known as Gerber files. These files contain 3D models of PCB design. These files also dictate the arrangement of holes that the drilling machine will make. These holes are the places where the components are placed.  After the drilling process is complete, the board undergoes a cleaning process. Cleaning allows all the residues to extinguish from the board that came with the drilling process.

Production of Copper Traces

After all the holes have been drilled, you can move on to the copper traces. A great way to accomplish this copper traces is through etching. This is a chemical process in which you have to use a resistive mask to cover the copper plates. This mask will easily cover the plate since it will have the same pattern of circuit you want.

If you happen to dip this arrangement into an alkaline solution at the temperature of 60 to 120 degrees Celsius, then the area of copper that is uncovered by the resistive mask is dissolved. You can also say that it is etched away. After this process completes, protective mask which was covering the circuit board also washes off in the next process.

Final Thoughts

As you can see, circuit board assemblies of today widely use surface prints and designs. Gerber files align all copper traces in the form of a print, which makes printing a quintessential process of circuit board assemblies. Furthermore, the printing process also helps speed up the process, which is ideal for mass production. Overall, printing process helped make PCBs more optimized, accurate and standard, which in turn was pivotal for the quality of the boards.

Interesting Facts about Circuit Board Assemblies

mwcms on April 26, 2022

PCBs or Printed Circuit Boards are major components of all electronic items. Normally, most people know very little about circuit board assemblies. A circuit board can easily be the heart of any electrical component. Below, you will learn about some interesting facts and history about the printed circuit boards.

PCB was Made Up of Brass

By using PCB, you can reduce the size of electrical components and wires that are needed for electronics to function. Since it is a replacement for all electronics and wires, you would normally think that a printed circuit board is made of copper. Even though this is true, it is worth noting that PCB was first made up of brass, and not copper. Today, they more commonly consist of fiber glass, composite 2 proxies, and other material.

PCBs Widespread Application and Forms

PCBs or printed circuit boards are also used in the printing industry. It is generally the backbone of modern day electronics. Circuit boards come in many different forms, and most PCBs are assembled using only a single layer. More sophisticated electronics and hardware such as motherboards, computer graphics or other cards can have multiple layers that sometimes can also go up to 12.

Even though PCBs are often linked with computers, they consist inside many other electronic devices, including radios, TVs, cell phones, and digital cameras. Along with their applications in consumer good electronics and computers, they are also applicable in a variety of other fields. The many different types of PCBs allow for them to be used in many other applications.

PCBs have different types

There are many different types of PCBs which you can find. These include:

  • Single sided PCB or Single Layer PCB
  • Double Sided PCB
  • Multilayer PCB
  • Rigid PCB
  • Flex PCB
  • Rigid-Flex PCB

 Single Sided PCB

Single sided or single layer PCBs are the cheapest circuit boards that you can find. These types only have one layer of the base substrate fiber glass. Furthermore, they also have one conductive copper layer. Electronic components for this PCB have holes that are not plated through. The compartments for the electronic components are on one side, while the conductive circuit is on the other side. Since there is only one conductive layer that forms this circuit, it is called a single sided PCB or one layer PCB.

Double Sided PCB or Double Layer PCB

Printed circuit boards of these types have one single layer of the base substrate, but conductive copper layer on both sides of the substrate. On this type of printed circuit board, you have to apply solder mask on both sides of the board. On top of that, holes for electronic components need to be plated through so that there is conductivity on both the circuits.  Holes on the double layer PCBs allow circuits on one side to be attached to circuits on the other side.

Multilayer PCBs

In this type, all the layers are interconnected with the help of copper plated holes. These layers can be multiple, and even range up to 40 layers. All the electronic components of an item are assembled on both, the top and bottom layers. On the other hand, the inner stacked layers are meant for rooting. Both, through hole electronic components and surface mount components can attach to either side of the PCB with the help of solder mask.

Final Thoughts

The earliest PCB assemblies were connected to each other manually, using wires. This manual construction led to errors and difficulties when it came to scaling up production. Today, printing techniques that conduct copper circuits on a non conducting board has revolutionized electronic items, making them smaller and more efficient.

How did Circuit Board Assemblies Evolve?

mwcms on April 15, 2022

All inventions go through evolutionary courses. PCBs, or printed circuit boards, went through an incredible course in history. If there is one thing that has challenged the electronic assembly industry, it is the need for miniaturization. As components inside an electrical unit get smaller and closer together, it pushes the printing and cleaning process to the edge. One may think that miniaturization is a product of the last 5-10 years. However, this process began about a hundred years ago.

History of Circuit Assemblies

When you think of circuit board assemblies, you instantly think of them as modern technology. It all started with Albert Hanson, a German scientist who filed a patent for a device that would improve telephone exchange boards. This primitive circuit board had wires attached to a conductive substrate and bonded to a flat surface.

This device consisted of technology that you would consider a precursor to the modern-day circuit board. It also had the simple through-hole design of today’s circuit board. The first real circuit board came patented in 1927 by American inventor Charles Ducas. His circuit board design had stenciled conductive materials on a wooden board that was flattened out.

This may be how the word, “board” is incorporated into what you now call a circuit board. Charles Ducus utilized a stencil to print the wires directly onto the board. He also applied ink for the conduction of electricity. This concept aligned the electronic path to an insulated surface, which created a more recognizable device as a printed circuit board today.

Evolution into Multi-Layered Circuit Board

Ducus conceptualized his invention further and thought of the possibility of layering multiple boards, which will give existence to a multi-layered circuit board. However, connecting multiple boards into a multi-layered object would require another great inventor who had the capabilities to turn his concept into a reality.

Then came Paul Eisler, who is widely known and appreciated for inventing today’s printed circuit board. After leaving Australia in the early days of World War 2, he settled in England. He worked in a newspaper printing company, which led him to use his printing expertise to formulate an idea that printed electronic circuits onto boards.

This was a giant leap forward in the labor-intensive practice of hand soldering each wire manually. His inventions helped in World War 2 because they were used in radio sets that the British and Americans used during the war.

Etching Design

In 1943, a patent was issued for a circuit board design that was more advanced than the one used in World War 2. It involved etching the circuits onto copper foil and on glass-reinforced non-conductive substrates. In 1948, the US Army released this technology to the public so that it could prompt widespread development of the innovation.

Transistors

In the 1950s, the printed circuit board became subject to further enhancement as transistors emerged. These components helped reduce the size of the electronics and made it easier to incorporate PCBs into electronics. This also improved the reliability of the electronics, and it started the beginning of the long-driven goal of miniaturization. In the 1950s and 60s, PCBs evolved into double-sided boards with identification printing on one side and electronic components on the other side.

Concluding Thoughts

Today, printed circuit board designs have zinc plates, silicon chips, solder masks, and more components that make electronic components more effective. Moreover, the circuit board assembly technology known as the surface mount technology dominates the PCB world. Surface Mount Components are soldered directly onto the board and have become industry standard.

Surface Mount Technology – What Is It All About?

mwcms on March 14, 2022

Have you ever taken a look inside any of the modern electronic equipment in your house? Lots of commercially-produced electronic equipment doesn’t contain wire leads or other traditional components with inefficient integration. Now, critical electrical components of printed circuit boards are mounted on the board using a special integration and manufacturing process. Most components that are mounted on the printed circuit boards are minute in size, and that’s one of the major advantages of it.

In simple words, mounting minute and lightweight components on printed circuit boards to fulfill the same functions refer to Surface Mount Technology (SMT). Virtually speaking, nearly all electronic equipment of today comprises Surface Mount Technology.

Since it offers lightweight features with optimal functionality, it has become one of the most favorable choices of PCB across the industry. Here’s a quick overview of the SMT technology (or components) and its benefits.

Surface Mount Technology – Overview of Devices

Surface mount components are quite different from their leaded counterparts due to various advantages. Plus, they offer a range of features and durability that’s different from the traditional components. They are placed on the printed circuit boards and then soldered to them. In contrast, the traditional components are wired to the insulated material board.

To help you understand, the traditional components required a wire between every two components, whereas this doesn’t happen with SMT components in the latest PCBs. Also, there is solder inside the board holes for components rather than wiring for traditional leaded components. The packaging styles are different from various components using the surface mount technology. The three main categories of the packaging styles include integrated circuits, passive components, and transistors/diodes.

Biggest Advantages

In simple words, the three main reasons PCB manufacturers loved switching to the surface mount technology were speed, cost-effectiveness, and reliability. All these benefits become practical during the assembly process due to easier implementation and simplified manufacturing. SMT is a major step up from the traditional leaded components.

You must know that the development, design, and manufacture of new equipment and electronic circuits are also positively impacted by the wide range of benefits from SMT components. Fortunately, designers and manufacturers of PCBs have come up with more advantages of the said tech than disadvantages.

Reduced Power Ratings

It’s worth mentioning that through the application of it in printed circuit boards, the power ratings of the components have dropped. We will take a surface mount resistor as a practical example for discussing the reduced power ratings of the said technology.

For your information, a standard leaded resistor is capable of dissipating nearly 0.25 watts while its counterpart, i.e., SMT component, dissipates quite less. However, if you’re someone working with SMT components, make sure you check the manufacturer’s data before purchase.

Efficient and Denser Circuits (Lightweight and Smaller)

The trend for smaller volumes but increased functionality has been realized to a certain extent with the help of components. The miniaturization of critical components in PCBs has improved the lightweight features and enabled circuits to be denser.

Conclusion

SMT components power a range of different circuit boards, including Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs). It’s easy to use and solder them onto circuit boards. However, they require adequate care due to the chances of extensive damage. The components offer a faster, lighter, and more durable alternative to the traditional leaded components in printed circuit boards. Plus, it’s worth mentioning that the use of SMT components in PCBs has enabled manufacturers and designers to make huge cost-saves.

How Each Small Component Works Together to Form a Circuit Board

mwcms on February 16, 2022

Imagine spending a day without using any electronic devices? Well, considering how our lives are integrated with modern technology and various electronic devices, such a task would be pretty impossible. Electronic gadgets are a part of our lives, and without them, you can’t complete tasks efficiently, or at least not without wasting valuable resources. This is all thanks to printed circuit board technology powering the majority of the devices out there. But what components are necessary for PCBs? Or, how do those important components integrate and function to form a perfectly-working printed circuit board?

In this post below, we will check out some of the main components of a circuit board that helps it function properly in the long run. Plus, you will learn the importance of each one and how it can be disastrous for a circuit board if a respective component stops working.

Inductors

These are electronic components based on the passive two-terminal form. Once a current passes through the inductors, they form a magnetic field to store the generated energy. Inductors are placed on circuit boards and help other components by restricting alternate current passage and allowing only direct current. They help form tuned circuits with the help of capacitors. Most often, you’ll find that tuned circuits inside TV and radio receivers consist of inductors.

Capacitors

These electronic components are based on the passive two-terminal form. However, their main purpose for attachment on a functional circuit board is to act like rechargeable batteries. By storing the energy at a previous time, they transmit the energy to the other components and the circuit board when required.

Resistors

Resistors are among the core elements in the list of components attached to different types of circuit boards, including PCBs. They are responsible for regulating the voltage in every connected component on a circuit board while also controlling the level of electric current that passes once the circuit is operational. Usually, the main cause behind a circuit board and its components overloading is resistor failure. Different components, apart from the resistors, aren’t very effective at regulating and handling varying voltage levels.

Transistors

In addition to their multi-functional nature and various capabilities, transistors are quite important in the fabrication of printed circuit boards. In general, transistors are nothing more than semiconductor devices that conduct and insulate while acting as amplifiers and switches for circuit boards and other components. Once integrated, they work efficiently despite lower voltage and negligible filament current.

Transistors are usually small in size but have a longer life than several major components of a printed circuit board used today. Further, there’re two different types of transistors:

  • Field-Effect Transistors (FET)
  • Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT)

Diodes

The diode acts as a switch for currents inside the printed circuit boards by allowing one-direction current to pass through different components on a printed circuit board. They’re semiconductor components that allow currents to move only in one direction while restricting flow from moving in the opposite direction.

There’s more to a printed circuit board than you might see at first. The abovementioned components aren’t the only ones that make up a functional circuit board that integrates efficiently with other parts of a device. Several other components are necessary, but the circuit board won’t be integrative without the ones mentioned above.

Conclusion

Whether you’re communicating with your loved ones abroad or making a hot cup of cocoa in the kitchen, you’re using technology that’s powered by printed circuit boards. While there are other types of circuit boards in the industry, PCBs are at the forefront of nearly all major technologies and innovations that we need regularly. Miniature electronic circuits are a massive solution to our time-sensitive work completion needs. But, the integration of all the small components on the said electronic circuits is even more important.

Circuit Board Assembly – How Is It Manufactured?

mwcms on January 31, 2022

The assembling and manufacturing processes begins with the solder paste that sticks to the board used for connecting electrical components. Following that, the process moves to the “pick and place” procedure of the components. In simple words, the entire circuit board manufacturing process includes soldering, inspection, and testing. After the manufacturing process is complete, experts need to send feedback depending on any failures or difficulties with the help of intelligent technology. All stages of the manufacturing process are under monitoring.

With that said, most manufacturers ensure high quality through supervised operations. In the post below, we will discuss the assembly and manufacturing process based on surface-mounted technology for PCBs.

Two Important Stages of the Assembly Process

Check out the two most important stages of the assembly process that lead to high-quality manufacturing:

·         Solder Paste

The first step involves using solder paste on the board using a process that’s similar to screen-printing. The only difference is that it relies on a stainless-steel stencil, which is positioned over the PCB. This way, the assemblers only apply the solder paste to particular parts of the circuit. These areas with the solder paste are where the components will sit.

·         Pick and Place

All boards coming from the assembly process containing solder paste will move to the pick and place process. There, a machine containing component reels will dispense and place components on the board safely where required.

Let’s take a simple overview of the entire manufacturing process below!

Simple Overview of the Manufacturing Process

Here, we will discuss the entire manufacturing process in the most simplified manner for greater comprehensibility. Since the boards aren’t jolted, the solder paste must be effectively and efficiently pasted on them. Why’s that? Well, the quality placement of solder paste will also keep the electrical components in a fixed position on the board.

For wave-soldered boards, pick and place machines add tiny dots of glue to hold the components in place. But, this makes all the repair processes cumbersome because the glue can get messy and interfere with the boards’ components.

The printed circuit board design information allows the pick and place machines to learn about the position and all component information. This allows the machines to program the components as per the requirements. Here are the different stages of the manufacturing process that you must know about:

·         Soldering

The boards pass through the soldering machine once the assembly process of placing components on the boards is complete. However, you must know that some processes involve the use of wave soldering machines, i.e., not for the latest PCBs that are powered by surface-mount components. Since the wave soldering machine provides the solder paste, it doesn’t need to be added separately to the board. As the latest PCB fabrication and release involves surface-mounted technology, the use of reflow soldering techniques is more widespread.

·         Inspection

Once the boards pass through a soldering process, they require careful inspection. This is most important to the overall manufacturing process. Firstly, it ensures high-quality manufacture with defects identified on the spot. Secondly, as failure is detected, the rest of the production can be held and made correct by rectifying the respective errors. Since the surface-mounted PCBs use hundreds or even more components on the insulating board material, a manual inspection can be tiring and time-consuming.

For that reason, automatic optical inspection is a more viable option. From misplaced and wrong components to poor joint placements, the respective optical inspection system can detect a range of failures and errors.

·         Testing and Feedback Report

Before leaving the factor, the manufacturing experts perform a test to make sure that all PCBs are functional and high-quality. Furthermore, sending the feedback report allows the manufacturing to suffer from fewer failures and errors.

Conclusion

The detailed post above contains the entire manufacturing process in a simplified way. All essential processes of assembly and manufacturing have been discussed. For your information, the entire production process is considerably optimized so that the level of defects is low. That’s one of the major ways manufacturers ensure high quality. The abovementioned operations of the manufacturing process are quite important to meet the growing demands and expected quality for high-end technology placements.

A Brief History on PCBs

mwcms on January 24, 2022

The printed circuit board enables all electrical components to work together in order to function all electronic devices that you see today. The printed circuit board, therefore, optimizes the functionality of electronics and has taken over many roles throughout history.

For instance, it primarily acted as a component holder. Then, it became an alternative to unnecessary wiring and cabling. Today, it is the superstructure for high-speed design.

The Birth of the First PCB

In 1940, the first printed circuit board was produced, and it was for the proximity fuse for the artillery shells. This was the middle of World War 2, and Great Britain was at war with the Nazis. Since they were on the back foot, the intelligence committee of Britain came up with a proximity fuse. This was inserted into the shells and exploded as it came near an object.

This invention was revolutionary for its time as it included a circuit that could detect when it was close enough to something and then explode. The UK was very successful with this invention. Moving forward to the post war era, the war ended in 1945. And in 1947, the first transistor was invented.

This transistor revolutionized the way people viewed electronics and changed the world of electronics, pushing forward great success. During this period of time, the first application of the transistor was the television set, and it was popular.

The circuit board inside the television set looks nothing like the printed circuit boards of today. Instead, it looked like individual components were strapped in, and wires were soldered to each of the component’s leads.

This was a very manually intensive way of building an electronic device, and it may have taken a couple of days for manufacturers to make them. If someone is sitting there and soldering all day long, you begin to wonder about the quality of the product as well.

Introduction to Etching Copper

In 1956, the US army patented an etching copper board. At that time, this was a very unusual way of making a circuit. The idea for etched copper involved getting a plain copper surface and then etching out the traces you’d want. After that, attach leaded components, or “through-hole components,” and you would put them through the board.

This was revolutionary because it turned a difficult and time-consuming process into one that you could complete in 20 minutes. This was a giant leap forward in electronics manufacturing. Granted, you only had one-sided boards at that time, but it served the purpose of getting from point A to point B.

PCB Today

A printed circuit board today is highly optimized because of miniaturization. Today, when you look at a highly specialized circuit board, you find really tiny components that neatly align to a board that connects all of the ports, headers, and sockets. These traces on printed circuit boards have made all of the modern electronics possible.

Before they became widespread, connecting components inside an appliance was a time-consuming and unorganized process. The idea of embedding wires on flat fiberglass made it possible to minimize highly complex electronic devices, such as smartphones and laptops.

Moreover, the printed circuits boards of today also have layers of copper on both sides of the fiberglass board, making them hold more components.

To Conclude

As you can see, the technologies of printed circuit boards have come a long way, and today they serve the most important functions for humanity, driving the wheels of commerce and information.

 

Differences between Surface Mount Assembly and Electro-Mechanical Assembly

mwcms on December 28, 2021

There are different ways you can assemble micro-electrical components on a printed surface board. And the surface mount assembly is more popular than the electro-mechanical assembly.

Nonetheless, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. To understand the difference between the two, you must have an overview of both methods.

Surface Mount Assembly

This method is a way to produce electrical circuits by directly placing or mounting the components on the surface of printed circuit boards. In this method, all components or devices are mounted on the board with the help of a solder mask.

If the assembly method is surface mount assembly, the production process will be incredibly fast. However, it has many drawbacks as well.

For instance, even though the production process significantly speeds up, it simultaneously increases the risk of defects during the assembly process.

This is largely because of the miniaturization of the components, along with the denser packing of boards.  In these conditions, testing and inspection for failures and errors become increasingly critical in the manufacturing process. The manufacturing of printed surface boards using surface mount assembly includes a sequence of processes.

The assembly process starts with the application of solder paste. This is the substance on which the electrical components are mounted. After you apply the solder mask to the board, you move forward to placing the components. This can be done manually or with the help of machines.

This process then moves ahead to the reflow soldering process, after which all the excess solder is cleaned. After these steps, the surface mount assembly process is complete, and you can move on to the testing phase of the printed circuit board.

Electro-Mechanical Assembly

Electro-mechanical assembly is heavily reliant on machinery and other automatic drive units. Electronic products consist of interconnections and many components. These components can also be devices that alter the flow of electricity, such as resistors, conductors, and capacitors.

The circuit board assembly is, therefore, the driving force of most electronic products since it provides the channel through which electricity can pass to all components. There are two ways components can mount to the circuit boards. And most electro-mechanical assembly processes focus on the through-hole process.

In this process, each component comes with leads, which fit inside the through-holes of the circuit board.  These types of components are very old since the through-hole method has been used for a very long time.

Which One is Better?

In terms of cost, surface mount assembly is more cost-effective for a number of reasons. One of the reasons is that SMT components are much easier to find. Another reason is that there are many services that manufacture a surface-mounted printed board exactly to your specifications.

Not to mention, for the low price that it offers, it also provides better design quality and speed. Moreover, testing through-holes can be difficult and may require specialized testing equipment, which will, in turn, have you spend more on testing.

Final Words

Electronic assembly process techniques are sometimes integrated into the surface mount assembly process, depending on the product you deal with. Therefore, it is difficult to say whether one is better than the other because projects can vary vastly.

However, it is fair to say that the through-hole method is outdated and has more drawbacks than the surface mount technology.