Tag Archives: pcb assembly contract manufacturer

The Necessity and Benefits of ECAD-MCAD Collaboration for PCB Design

PC Board, pcb board assembly, PCB Design, Printed Circuit Board, printed circuit board assembly, , , , , , , ,

When it comes to creating high-quality printed circuit boards, ECAD and MCAD collaboration is essential. PCB designers use ECAD or electronic computer-aided design for the circuit design. Whereas MCAD or mechanical computer-aided design is used for the mechanical design. By combining these two disciplines, PCB design can ensure that their products meet both the electrical and mechanical requirements of the application.

Designers should also conduct thermal and structural analyses to evaluate temperature and stress levels that might affect the performance of the Printed Circuit Board. This information helps designers to determine the optimal placement and routing of the components. It also accounts for any potential constraints caused by physical environmental conditions.

What is ECAD (Electronic Computer-Aided Design)

ECAD stands for Electronic Computer-Aided Design, and it refers to the use of computer software to create electronic designs. You can use ECAD to design components such as integrated circuits, printed circuit boards, and semiconductor devices. With ECAD, engineers can model their circuit designs digitally before they move onto the physical prototyping stage.

ECAD also helps in the automation of various design processes, such as simulations, signal analysis, and device layout. Ultimately, ECAD tools help engineers optimize the design of their circuits to achieve higher performance, faster development cycles, and cost savings.

However, ECAD alone does not provide a complete design solution for PCBs; mechanical elements must be there for the board to function correctly and meet its intended purpose. That’s where MCAD comes in.

What Are The Benefits Of ECAD-MCAD Collaboration? 

ECAD-MCAD collaboration is necessary for successful design. The combination of both software help to improve product development, reduce costs, and increase efficiency. Using the collaboration between ECAD and MCAD to create a comprehensive product design helps to ensure that the finished product will meet all requirements, both mechanical and electrical.

The combination of ECAD and MCAD also helps to minimize development time. By understanding both the electronic and mechanical aspects of the design, engineers can make decisions about components and designs without spending time on redesigns. Moreover, it can help reduce costs by eliminating the need to produce multiple prototypes or use more expensive materials.

Moreover, ECAD-MCAD collaboration can also be beneficial when creating drawings for a PC Board layout. The 3D model created by MCAD provides a better understanding of the overall PCB design and allows engineers to optimize their layouts more effectively. This ensures that the finished product meets all requirements and reduces the development time.

How Does ECAD-MCAD Collaboration Improve Design?

One of the primary benefits of ECAD-MCAD collaboration is that it allows designers to quickly check for any potential interferences between components that could cause problems in the final product. This makes the design process much more efficient since you can detect the problems before they become costly issues down the line.

ECAD-MCAD collaboration also allows designers to accurately predict the performance of the PCB by simulating its behavior in a virtual environment. By running simulations, designers can determine how their design will react to different environmental conditions, such as temperature, humidity, and electrical noise. This helps to ensure that the design will function properly in its intended application.

In addition to providing performance insights, such collaboration can also improve the manufacturability of printed circuit boards. By incorporating mechanical parts into the design, designers can ensure that all components fit together correctly, reducing the need for manual adjustments during production. This not only saves time and money, but it also helps to ensure a higher quality end product.

Such collaboration is essential for producing successful PCB designs. By combining the two design processes, manufacturers can easily create efficient and effective products with minimal risk of failure. With the help of simulation and analysis tools, designers can also accurately predict the performance and manufacturability of their PCBs before committing to full production.

Thermal and Structural CAD-CAE Integration

By combining the ECAD and MCAD, engineers can gain an understanding of how electrical components interact with the physical environment. This is easy to accomplish through CAD-CAE integration, where complex system simulations and analysis are possible by using both ECAD and MCAD data. You can conduct thermal and structural analysis to evaluate temperature and stress levels that might affect the performance of the PCB. This information helps designers to determine the optimal placement and routing of the components. It also helps to explain any potential constraints caused by physical and environmental conditions.

Overall, the ECAD-MCAD collaboration offers improved accuracy, reliability, and efficiency when it comes to designing a PCB. By combining the capabilities of both ECAD and MCAD systems, engineers can create sophisticated designs that will meet both the mechanical and electrical requirements of their applications. Through CAD-CAE integration, designers can also perform tests on the PCB to evaluate its performance in the actual environment. Ultimately, ECAD-MCAD collaboration is essential for successful PCB design.

Collaboration between Altium Designer and Solidworks

If you are looking for an easier and more efficient way to design PCBs, consider combining Altium Designer and SolidWorks. These two powerful tools can help streamline your design process, helping you to create intricate PCBs with greater speed and accuracy. We will discuss how to effectively use Altium Designer and SolidWorks together to optimize your PCB design process.

The Benefits of Using Altium Designer with Solidworks

Using Altium Designer and SolidWorks in tandem can help streamline the PCB design process. Altium Designer is an industry-leading PCB design platform, offers a range of powerful features for the design, simulation, and output of schematic drawings, layouts, and more. SolidWorks is a powerful 3D CAD modeling program that provides tools for creating realistic 3D models of your boards.

By using Altium Designer and SolidWorks together, designers can reduce time spent on the manual entry of data, ensure a greater level of accuracy throughout the design process, and maximize design efficiency. With Altium Designer, you can easily create schematics and layouts based on existing 3D models created in SolidWorks. The software also allows designers to add components directly to the board layout, making it easier to quickly build out complex boards.

Altium Designer also offers advanced simulation capabilities, allowing you to simulate your boards in both static and dynamic scenarios. This makes it easier to troubleshoot potential problems before committing to the physical design. Additionally, the software provides a comprehensive set of tools for generating manufacturing files from the design, making it easy to bring the board into production.

Overall, by combining Altium Designer with SolidWorks, designers can benefit from a faster, more accurate design process with fewer opportunities for errors. This streamlined process can save time and resources during the design process, helping companies get their products to market faster.

How To Set Up The Collaboration Between The Two Software Programs

Setting up a collaboration between Altium Designer and SolidWorks is easy, and it can provide significant benefits to your design process. You should have both programs installed on your computer. Then follow the below steps which will help you set up the collaboration between Altium Designer and SolidWorks:

  • Launch both programs and open the documents that you want to collaborate on.
  • In SolidWorks, go to Tools > Add-Ins > Altium Designer Interface.
  • Click “Connect” to begin the connection process.
  • Select which components of the SolidWorks document you want to export to Altium Designer.
  • In Altium Designer, go to File > Import > 3D Models from SolidWorks.
  • Select the model that you want to import and click “Open”.
  • The model will be imported into Altium Designer and you can begin designing your PCB layout with the imported model.

Using these steps, you can easily set up a collaboration between Altium Designer and SolidWorks, allowing you to streamline your design process and take advantage of the features offered by both programs.

So, such collaboration offers numerous benefits to PCB designers. It helps to create comprehensive product designs that are functional and aesthetically pleasing, while also reducing development time and cost. By utilizing the collaboration between ECAD and MCAD, designers can create better PCB layouts that meet all requirements and optimize the product design process.

Final Thoughts

When it comes to designing printed circuit boards, the collaboration between electrical computer-aided design (ECAD) and mechanical computer-aided design (MCAD) is essential for success. By integrating ECAD and MCAD, engineers can ensure the PCB design is accurate, efficient, and cost-effective.

ECAD provides the electronic schematic diagrams and component placements, while MCAD takes care of the mechanical parts of the design, such as housing dimensions and materials. By combining these two disciplines, the designer can create a complete product that is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.

Through CAD-CAE integration, designers can also perform tests on the printed circuit board to evaluate its performance in the actual environment. Ultimately, ECAD-MCAD collaboration is essential for successful PCB design.

Would like to know more about the ECAD and MCAD or Circuit board fabrication? Email us at sales@pnconline.com

Main aspects of the PCB industry – PCB Design, Manufacturing & Assembling

PC Board, pc board assembly, pcb assembly, pcb assembly contract manufacturer, pcb assembly near me, pcb assembly usa, pcb board assembly, pcb contract manufacturing, PCB Design, PCB Fabrication, printed circuit assembly, Printed Circuit Board, prototype pcb manufacturer, , , , ,

In this article, you’ll get to know the fundamentals of PCB manufacturers and how our company “PNC Inc.” is unique from other manufacturers in the United States.

What are the three main aspects of the PCB industry?

According to our experience of more than 50 years as the leading PCB Company in the industry, we can easily write that three main aspects in the PCB industry for which most clients look for are:

• PCB Design
• PCB Manufacturing
• PCB Assembly

Design, Manufacturing, and assembling of PCB is a systematic method for examining the parts and components which is needed to execute. It included obtaining costs of a commodity and seeks to cut costs before actual development begins. There are specific manufacturing, design, and assembling principles required to be following during the PCB process execution of any electrical or electronics part. Eventually, a final design concludes the series with a review among the most common issues related to the PC Board or Printed Circuit Board.

Until continuous description, it is important to explain how the word ‘manufacturing design’ is used when speaking more generally and when talking more directly about PCB output. In general, design for manufacturing and assembling may lead to the simplification and optimization of a model or theoretical design in anticipation of their production. As these words are used to describe PCBs, they also imply a more straightforward study of possible production problems.

Ideal Design can Help PCB Fabrication:

The purpose of addressing the nature of manufacturing and assembling, in general, is to decide how a commodity can be produced and installed most cost-effectively. Manufacturing is to be done in a way to reduce the total cost and, more evidently, assembly design is required to be done to reduce commodity inputs, capital operating costs, and labor reduction. The emphasis is both on applying standards to lower manufacturing costs and also aim to shorten the product creation period. The fusion of these methods is often widely called manufacturing and assembly design for Mil-Spec PC Board.

Rules of PCB Manufacturer and Assembly:

After the conceptual Circuit Board Fabrication design has been developed, the company is required to research opting towards the most economical way of executing the PCB fabrication. The construction of a prototype or the development of a new version of a product could require a conceptual design. Once a conceptual design has been developed, a designer review will analyze the design’s bill of materials.

Try to use fewer parts in a design:

Reducing the number of components in PC board manufacturers is a simple aim with clear advantages. It would minimize construction costs and assembly difficulty, while not as obvious, it is of great advantage. When PCB assemblies are supplied using devices, for example, they are restricted to the number of modules they may be supported in a single port.

Being aware that if use many parts are used by pick and place machines in circuit boards fabrication will contribute to non-assembly. Cost savings are obvious. For example, if a design needs a resistance of 20K ohms, and 10K ohms resistance has been already used in the design, it might also be easier to use two 10K ohms resistors in sequence if this reduces the amount of time the computer picks and places simulation.

In the same way, you can speed assembly time up and transfer portions of the test requisites to the IC maker in search of regularly integrated circuits that can combine part of the specification into one IC. Having in mind the number and form of PCB components is perhaps the most significant move towards reducing total PCB manufacturing costs. In a term, the elimination of a component for the final design would decrease BOM costs, minimize purchase costs, production time, test time, and workload assembly feedback.

Use Original Components:

The use of composite materials will dramatically reduce construction time and expense. It goes without saying that defining a specific custom approach would significantly raise the initial cost of every product which may render a concept unfeasible. In addition, the use of more generic materials will shorten the supply chain of a commodity and mitigate supply issues. The fact that their measurements are easier checked until they are included in a PCB design specification is another advantage to prefer electronic interfaces.

Use Multifunctional Parts for Printed Circuit Design:

When an electric power part may be used for many uses in a model, the designer must take account of it. For instance, utilizing a container that can also act as hot in a design can give considerable cost control. A further definition of a dual-use mechanism through the use of a blockade as a link to ground from PCB board assembly.

Install all PCB Assembly Directions:

If practicable, all the board companies would plan all pieces to be assembled from the same side of an assembly around one axis. This is also referred to as a “Top Down” assembly in which all parts from top to bottom are placed. The use of this kind of single-sided assembly method saves time when a product is turned and rotated during assembly. As for all of the design choices, PCB design engineers would then have to consider whether producing a smaller PCB fabrication with components placed on every s sides of the board safer is compared with developing a larger PCB.

Advantages of PCB Manufacturers and Assembly:

• Fewer pieces ought to be handled and recorded.
• The expense of billing products should be minimized.
• The cost of handling can be reduced to some degree.
• Labor and input of electricity should be reduced.
• The total production period may be reduced to significantly increase manufacturing productivity.
• Lower sophistication results in greater efficiency.
• Increasingly competitive products should be.
• High Replacement margins are achieved.

The Circuit Printed Boards Manufacturers and prototype PCB manufacturers should have a simple way to reduce the next design bill. The advantages of reducing the number of designs are evident. Materials will become more viable as they are cheaper and less vulnerable to loss, however by lowering the number of materials used in the production of product costs, paperwork needs will be decreased and the work required for SMT assembly. All these factors contribute to lower manufacturing costs and encourage either better commodity or price profits at more affordable prices.

In addition, the processing period is shortened so the goods can be delivered to customers in less time. An optimal printed circuit board may be built with the right PCBA assembly considering all the above implementation of these objectives.

At PNC Inc., You’ll get your PCB done from any of the following design tools of your choice as we have an in-house facility available for all the tools.

• Cadence Allegro v16
• OrCAD Capture v16.3 & OrCAD PCB Designer v16.3
• PADS v9
• Signal Integrity Analysis: Hyperlynx

You will get the following deliverables from us:
• Gerber, drill files & PCB File
• Assembly and fabrication files
• Formal drawings on your (client) desired format

Why you should choose us & why we are better than others in the Market?

At PNC Inc., we have got the facility of executing all the design, manufacturing, and assembling in the same building. In this way, you don’t have to visit different places to check the progress of your work. You’ll get all the things done in the same building at our Nutley, New Jersey facility. That’s why we are a “one-stop-shop” and providing all the services under the same roof.

PCB assembly Pre-Reflow FAI

one stop pcb assembly, pc board assembly, pcb assembly, pcb assembly and soldering, pcb assembly contract manufacturer, pcb assembly manufacturer, pcb assembly near me, pcb assembly services, pcb assembly usa, pcb board assembly, printed circuit assembly, Printed Circuit Board, printed circuit board assembly, SMT assembly, turnkey pcb assembly, , , , , , , , ,

First article inspection (FAI) prior to SMT assembly is a design verification methodology that provides a reported verification and validation of details of a product on the shopfloor per its manufacturing procedure and requirements. There are various ways to perform FAI, from both supplier’s and customer’s side, making it a very dynamic process. This means that each organization can tailor its FAI method to benefit itself and consequently, its customer, yet maintain rigid performance standards at the same time. FAI involves qualitative and quantitative measurement. FAI is also highly effective since it can potentially fulfill process validation requirements of quality management systems like ISO9001 or AS9100.

In the PCBA manufacturing industry, FAI can be effectively employed in validating materials for manufacture, underlying technologies, manufacturing processes used, packaging, and equipment. It can also be applied to a batch of a given sample-size from a mass-production instead of just the first sample, as the name might suggest. At PNC, strict adherence to our manufacturing standards helps in production with better yield but at the same time, facilitating dynamic validation techniques in our manufacturing process allows us to reduce lead time. The focus of FAI in PNC assembly lies in validating the pcb assembly before reflowing so that the SMT team can make necessary adjustments for the next batch, saving time and effort during rework. They are also responsible for validating the correct loading of the right component in its allotted slot per the assembly program. This extra step helps in validating the placements of the components and improves the turnout rate for a successful production.

All aspects of reflow also must be amenable to improve solder performance and the same translates to our guideline where only the most recent batch of solder paste (with most activity) is permitted for use, which is validated by FAI. Apart from pre-reflow FAI, post-reflow X-Ray also helps validate the solder performance based on the reflow profile which can then be adjusted accordingly so that all components are successfully soldered. This can be similarly implemented at the rest of the printed circuit board assembly stages as well up to testing. But there is a necessity to establish a constant groundwork or point of reference in such a dynamic process to give each validation at a particular stage, the perspective of what changes were made before. This is achieved by using a single piece of documentation used to validate at every stage, wherever applicable, and that document reports any changes made to the processes or product, to the next stage.

pcb_assembly
pcb_assembly

PNC employs the use of AEGIS software to combine SMT assembly guidelines and inspection requirements into a single document (internally referred to as AEGIS). The AEGIS is used to report every single FAI validation to different stages of assembly. PNC’s FAI process for SMT starts with thorough solder paste FAI & its validation, which will be detailed in another post. For this post, let us consider pre-reflow FAI and highlight its validation process since it is the most crucial stage. The procedure is as follows:
1. The SMT team confirms the correct allocation of components as given in the assembly program. This is done by comparing each component with its description, measuring component value wherever applicable, and checking for physical marking on ICs. This helps in validating that the right component has been placed in its respective position on the board.
2. The next step involves checking for the polarity of components, wherever applicable. This is a two-step process. First, the supply angle of a component in the reel needs to be checked and second, the placement of that very component on the PCB needs to be verified.
3. Now, once the first board is assembled, the pcb assembly is put through FAI, where the placements of all components on the board are checked, any necessary placements that remain are placed manually and polarities of applicable components are checked and changed as per what is given in the AEGIS. The same changes are made in the assembly program to avoid the same occurrence in the rest of the batch. Components that are designated as DNP (Do Not Place) are also checked and finally, the solder paste information such as solder type, lot number, date of manufacture, and expiry are checked to ensure that the right solder paste has been used.
4. All these checks translate to notes, remarks, and checks on the AEGIS document, which can then be referred at later stages up to final inspection. If the job in consideration is a repeat job, it can be optimized to avoid any errors made in the first batch of production.
5. The board is then sent through reflow. Once reflowed, the board is extensively inspected under high magnification camera for quality of component placement, solder joints etc. yielded by SMT process.
6. Each section in the AEGIS is meant for FAI by a different team performing a different operation.

PNC has been able to reduce its lead time and increase customer satisfaction significantly and our personalized and successful FAI is a big factor contributing towards it. Further development to the FAI process is underway as much as it is needed to achieve better production yield over time for all the different types of PC Board assembly that are assembled at PNC.

PRINTED CIRCUIT ASSEMBLY TESTING

pc board assembly, pcb assembly, pcb contract manufacturing, printed circuit assembly, , ,

No single printed circuit assembly testing system will meet all the requirements of every manufacturing environment. PNC employees the three most commonly used testing methods for defect detection being Functional Test (FCT), In circuit Testing (ICT) and Flying probe testing. Each test method will have different results based on your test strategy.
Your testing strategy must be developed with consideration to many factors such as reliability, cost or functionality traits. The key here is to detect defective boards and catch issues prior to end usage. Some considerations like opens, shorts, resistance, capacitance, inductance, diode issues, detecting incorrect component values, functional failures, and parametric failures are a few things that need to be addressed before your test strategy is finalized. Below is a brief description of the three test methods that are performed at PNC.

Functional Circuit Test (FCT)
Functional Circuit Test (FCT)

PNC offers multiple pc board assembly testing services. The most commonly performed, non-automated, printed circuit assembly test for electrical performance is functional testing, whether it be a partial or a full test procedure. Variabilities include what is to be tested, what inputs/outputs are needed, what are the required results and what are the testing parameters. These parameters are pre-determined from our customer supplied test procedures. FCT not only verifies the functionality of the PCB, but can also determine any assembly defects.
FCT is best suited for smaller to medium size volumes which helps our customers save a considerable cost by eliminating the need to buy actual testing equipment such as Spectrum Analyzers, AC/DC power supplies, multi-meters, etc. Depending on the complexity of the functional test to be executed, a pogo pin test fixture may be fabricated to expedite the test for optimum test results making it error-free and robust.

In Circuit Test (ICT)

PNC’s biggest advantage to in circuit testing is that it can test for functionality as well as for printed circuit assembly defects. ICT is normally much faster than probe or functional testing as it makes connection to all the board’s test points at once using a clam shell bed of nails fixture. Interpreting the test results are normally very easy to identify shorts, opens, or a particular faulty component location. As a
pcb assembly contract manufacturer speed, efficiency, and quick test results help ensure a quality printed circuit assembly.
Although there are advantages to ICT, we do find some disadvantages as well. The development of this fixture has a significant investment of time and money associated with it. To our customer base, the expense of the fixture and programming can only be recovered on boards being assembled in large volumes. In the event there are any revisions to the PCB, the layout would initiate changes to the fixture, thus resulting in a completely new fixture and the expenses associated with it.

Probe Test
Probe Test

Flying probe testing is a pre-programmed, automated system that controls two to six probes that maneuver (fly) around a printed circuit assembly to contact test points, checking nets, on both the top and the bottom of the board. Flying probe has a lower cost and minimal programming time for setup than ICT. The biggest advantage to probe testing is revisions/changes to the pcb assembly. There is no fixturing modification cost, only the programming need be adjusted.
Probe testing is slower than ICT, and best fits medium sized assembly runs, so for complex high volume production runs its not preferred or cost effective. Another disadvantage to flying probe testing is that is does not perform functional testing and is limited to detecting pcb assembly defects.

Printed Circuit Board thickness considerations and requirements

one stop pcb assembly, pcb assembly, pcb assembly and soldering, pcb assembly contract manufacturer, pcb assembly manufacturer, pcb assembly near me, pcb assembly services, pcb assembly usa, pcb board assembly, pcb contract manufacturing, PCB Fabrication, pcb prototype assembly service, printed circuit board assembly, prototype pcb assembly, turnkey pcb assembly, , , , , , ,

How Do You Select a Printed Circuit Board Thickness?

Selecting the correct PC Board thickness for your product requires balancing of three often competing aspects of the design: manufacturability, electrical performance and mechanical constraints. Modern PCB fabrication techniques at PNC give the PCB designer great flexibility in specifying the PCB lamination stack-up and gives them the option to design a PCB in a thickness other than the typical choices of .031”, 062” or .093”.

Manufacturing considerations in selecting a PCB thickness

To understand how to specify PCB thickness, it is important to understand how PCBs are fabricated. Most multilayer PCBS from 2 layers to 40 layers are constructed of these three basic materials.

  • Core – a fully cured fiberglass panel usually with copper foil on both sides. It is essentially a two-sided Printed Circuit Board. PNC stocks cores in a variety of materials and thicknesses, down to 3 mils thick.
  • Prepregs – fiberglass sheets impregnated with uncured epoxy resin. This resin will cure and harden when subjected to heat and pressure during the lamination process. It is the functional equivalent of double-sided tape. PNC also stocks prepregs in a variety of materials and thicknesses.
  • Copper foil – used to create conductive layers. Copper foil thickness is chosen by the amount of current the traces in each layer of the board will need to carry.

Multilayer boards can be manufactured in a variety of thicknesses by mixing standard core thicknesses with standard prepreg thicknesses. The lower limit of PCB thickness is set by the number of layers and the minimum available core and prepreg thicknesses. Copper foil thickness also plays a small role in overall PC Board thickness.

Providing you want to stay with the standard thicknesses, I’ll give you an example of PNC’s standard core thicknesses based off the core copper thickness. Let’s take an .062 and compare the stack-ups. See Figure  below:

Stack-up for an .062 multilayer:
062 thick PCB (002)

 

 

 

Notice to achieve the .062 overall thickness, the core thickness needs to be compensated based on the copper weight of the design. When using 1 oz copper we would use .038 core and .035 core for 2 oz. Also, the amount of pre preg would need to be adjusted as well to get to the thickness required. This is just one example when trying to determine overall thickness of your PCB.

The maximum PCB thickness is usually governed by something called the drill aspect ratio, which is the ratio of a drilled holes depth vs its diameter. When a hole is drilled, the deeper the holes becomes the harder it is to guide the drill accurately (because the drill deflects as it is pushed through the material) until you eventually reach a limit where you can no longer guarantee that the resulting drill hole will be centered in all the pads through the PCB. This is also referred to as drill wander in the PC Board fabrication world.

The aspect ratio for a through hole is the (board thickness) / (drill hole diameter).

Typically, the ratio is limited to approximately 10:1 This means that for a .062” thick board the smallest through-hole drill size is .006” which is the minimum drill size available at PNC. For a .093” thick PCB the smallest drill hole size will be .009” As board thickness increases, more complex via creation techniques such as laser drilled microvias are required to maintain the required pad density under components such as BGAs.

PCB thickness considerations for high speed circuits

One of the assumptions an electrical engineer makes when designing a circuit is that the PCB itself does not contribute any impedance to the circuit. However, in high-speed PCB design the integrity of the signals is definitely affected by the physical characteristics of the PCB.

Unfortunately for the designer the primary sources of parasitic capacitance and inductance of a PCB are affected by board thickness in conflicting ways, forcing the designer to carefully consider the trade-offs.

Vias

PCB vias can introduce both inductance and capacitance to the high-speed circuit. Parasitic inductance and capacitance of a via both increase proportional to board thickness.

Capacitance between layers
The capacitance between traces on different board layers or between traces and the ground plane are inversely proportional to the thickness of the dielectric between them. More space between layers will reduce parasitic capacitance and ensuring that all high-speed signal traces are the same distance from the ground plane will help impedance matching between them.

Crosstalk

Crosstalk between signal traces can be minimized by routing the PCB traces further apart and reducing the dielectric thickness between PCB trace and reference plane.

Mechanical Constraints

A PCB is ultimately a mechanical component of the product and is therefore subject to a variety of mechanical constraints. The PCB or PCBs must fit within the product envelope. This often requires that a PCB be as thin as possible. On the other hand, PCBs are subject to the torqueing forces from cables connected to the board edge and external connections. Preventing board failure during assembly or in use requires a circuit board fabrication thick enough to withstand these forces.

Finally, PCBs in the field are subjected to both vibration and shock. For example, large PCB panels can vibrate in several different modes when subjected to vehicle vibration, causing fatigue and eventual failure of solder joints. The rule of thumb is to get the resonance modes of a PCB to be 10X the input vibration. This requires designing thicker, stiffer PCBS and by careful placement and design of the PCB mounts.

These are the three most important considerations in selecting a PCB thickness. To optimize a PCB design, the PCB designer needs to understand all of these requirements and constrains on the PCB lamination stack-up, and have the flexibility to choose a PCB thickness that balances these often conflicting constraints. The team at PNC can help you design a PCB that meets your needs at a competitive cost and lead time.