INSTRUMENTATION • ELECTRONICS A BROADER PERSPECTIVE ON PCB DESIGN
Overcoming common mistakes in printed circuit board design with sustainability in mind
NCAB Group, has supported thousands of technical queries in this fi eld. As he says, “more often that not, there are boards that need to be modifi ed for the best outcome.” To this end, NCAB’s engineers work closely with its customer base as early on in the design process as possible to ensure the company gets it right from the start. T is is one of its unique selling points, the company says, which it has heavily invested in to ensure best practices throughout its global network.
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According to Surman, the most common PCB design mistakes are as follows: • Annular ring issues • Plated T rough Hole (PTH) to copper • Non-Plated T rough Hole (NPTH) slots to copper
• Holes located on the edge of the surface 22
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ith more than 25 years’ experience in the printed circuit board (PCB) industry, Matt Surman, CAM Engineer at
mound device (SMD) pad, or very close to the SMD
• Trace width and isolation spacing does not work with the selected base copper foil thickness
• Stubs (unterminated traces) on the copper layers
• Slivers and same net spacing in the copper layers
• Copper to edge – distance between copper features and profi le
• Improper SMD/BGA pads design • Soldermask is oversized or lack of oversize in the same design
• Soldermask bridge or web too small • Coverage of the soldermask • Legend print problems
Surman explains, “We see an array of PCBs daily that we can support the customer on to bring the PCB up to the spec which allows the PCB to become best form, fi t and function.” As nothing aff ects the PCB’s total cost and reliability as much as the
initial design, NCAB has created various PCB design tools to help its customers during the PCB design and production process. • PCB Design Checklist • PCB Design Guidelines • PCB Cost Drivers • PCB Design Tips
With these tools, NCAB hopes to deliver more intelligence to the industry as part of an ongoing project that will support design engineers in their daily work.
SUSTAINABILITY WITHIN PCB DESIGN Many engineers today are not only focusing on design for manufacture, but also on design for sustainability. T e NCAB Cost Drivers tool provides a sustainability impact meter for engineers to assess these parameters, which are now becoming increasingly important in our daily lives. T e aim of the sustainability meter,
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