Training Notes (4.

2 Printed Circuit Board)

1. Description and use of Printed Circuit Board.

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 INTRODUCTION
 PCB is an electronic circuit mounted on a base material.
 It is a piece of insulating material usually provided with holes, to accommodate various electronic
components.
 PCB plays a vital role in the design and production of electronic equipment.
 Usually the PCB is a circuit made of thin copper foil. Due to the thin copper foil PCB needs a base
support.
 Instead of copper sometimes the conducting material like aluminum, silver, Ni are used.
 The name printed circuit board rise because the electronic circuit appears to be printed on the base
material.

 ADVANTAGES OF PCB
 It provides mechanical support for the components mounted on it.
 It provides reliability in performance of equipment.
 Though the conducting copper strips. All components are connected with each the over the PCB.
There is no actual connection through the wires between components. Thus no external wires are
required to connect the components.
 There is actual wire contact between components hence there is no chance of loose connection.
 PCB occupies less space than the circuit assembled on the general purpose circuit board.
 Much time is saved in assembling a circuit over PCB as compared to the conventional method.

 BASE OR SUBSTRATE MATERIAL

 The base material or laminate as it is sometimes called, is the insulating material to which the
conducting material is bounded.
 Base material commonly made up either of layer of phenolic resin impregnated paper, or of epoxy
resin impregnated fibre glass cloth which has been bounded to form a rigid sheet which can be readily
cut, punched or drilled.
 Thickness of base material depends on the strength and stiffness requirements of finished board,
which in turn dictated by weight of the components to be carried, and by size of printed conductor
area.

 CONDUCTOR MATERIAL
 The most commonly used conducting material is copper foil, the minimum purity value of which is
99.5%.

 TYPES OF PCB
There are four types of PCBs
1. SINGLE SIDED PCB
 In single sided the circuit is only on one side of the kit. Here, the components are mounted only on
one side and the circuit is etched on the other side.
 The single sided PCB’s are used where the cost is to be kept minimum.

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2. DOUBLE SIDED PCB
 When the space is almost important than cost of PCB. Then double sided PCBs are used.
 Double sided PCBs are much more suited for complex circuits than the single-sided.
 It is costlier than single sided PCBs
 The circuit is etched on both sides.

3. MULTILAYER PCB
 This type of PCB is made of two or more boards which have circuits on one or both sides.
 This boards are carefully aligned so that the holes in all of them match and they are permanently
assembled together.

4. FLEXIBLE PCB
 Laminate of a flexible PCB can bend.
 There are a number of different materials used as base films including: polyester (PET), polyimide
(PI), polyethylene naphthalate (PEN), polyetherimide (PEI), along with various fluropolymers (FEP)
and copolymers.
 Applications: camera, cars, satellite, rockets.

 LAYOUT OF PCB
 Design of a PCB layout means to design the interconnections of the components.
 The layout is a worksheet from which artwork is prepared to build the board.
 The layout of PCB is designed in such a way so as to accommodate the whole circuit in a minimum
space.

 CIRCUIT ARTWORK
 The quality of a printed circuit board is, in the first instance, dependent on the production of master
artwork which must show precisely the circuit conductor pattern required, where components are to
be located, circuit module designations and other essential references.
 Artwork production requires the use of dimensionally stable base materials, and the application of
skilled drafting techniques, because, unlike conventional electrical drawings, which are used as a
guide to the build-up of an assembly of wiring and connections, a printed circuit board is an actual
reproduction of the original artwork produced for it.

 ETCHING / PATTERNING
 The removal of unwanted copper from the board to give the final pattern of the circuit is known as
etching. The solution which is used for etching process is called as etchant.
 The different etchants are used for etching process like ferric chloride, cupric chloride, chromic acid
and alkaline ammonia. But out of these ferric chloride is widely used because it has short etching time
and can be stored for long time.

 DRILLING OPERATION
 After etching the board is washed with the help of alcohol or benzene. It will be washed with cold
water and the board is ready for drilling the different holes. After that the mounting of the component
is done.
 In industry depending on production volumes, manual, the importance of drilling into PCBs has further
gone up with electronic component.
 To maintain size and location of holes with required tolerances, manual, the important. Drilling on
PCB is done by different methods; by drilling machine, by direct sight, by optical sight.
 Copper plating is used to provide a conducting layer within the holes.

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 COMPONENT MOUNTING
 Careful mounting of the components on the PCB increases the reliability of the assembly, The
mounting is done opposite to the conductor tracks.
 Some precautions have to be taken during the component mounting:
1. The component leads must be clean with polish paper before they are inserted in PCB holes.
2. The bend leads must fit into the hole properly.
3. To save the space on PCB vertical mounting is to be carried out instead of axial mounting.
4. While mounting of IC, DIP, special jigs must be used for easy insertion.
5. All leads must be cut with the help of sharp cutter to same length seen from the surface i.e. to be
soldered.

 SOLDERING
 Soldering is a process in which two or more metal items are joined together by melting.
 The soldering helps to connect the electronic components permanently.

 SOLDERS:
 There are different types of solder available in the market. But only few can be used for electronics
work.
 For soldering electronic components, rosin core solder can be used. Solder with .75mm to 1mm
diameter can be used for printed circuit board work.
 It is available in different alloys. 63% tin and 37 % lead is used for electronic components assembly.

 FLUXES & THEIR APPLICATION

 It is used to improve electrical connection and mechanical strength.
 To assist in the wetting of surfaces by molten solder, a flux must be used both to prevent oxidation
during joint formation, and to dissolve the thin oxide films which may already be present on the
surfaces which are to be joined, and on the solder itself.
 Common fluxes are: ammonium chloride or rosin for soldering tin; hydrochloric acid and zinc
chloride for soldering galvanized iron (and other zinc surfaces).

 SOLDERING METHODS

There are two main methods of soldering employed in connection with printed circuits boards, (a) hand
soldering and (b) mass soldering.

a) HAND SOLDERING
This method is used for soldering joints separately, e.g. in limited batch production, and when a component
or a wire is replaced after a test or a repair has been carried out. This method involves the uses electrically
heated hand irons.

b) MASS SOLDERING
In this method, all joints of a finally assembled board are soldered simultaneously, by bringing the board
into contact with an oxide-free surface of molten solder, which is contained in a special type of bath.

 Dip Soldering
 In this process PCB is dipped on the surface of solder bath.
 Then surface becomes wetted by the solder. The solder pot is made of cast iron or steel. It is
electrically heated.

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  The solder bath temperature is in the range of 220˚ C to 260˚ C.

 Wave Soldering
 solder is pumped from the bottom of the solder bath through a narrow slot, so that a symmetrical
'standing wave' of solder is produced across the width of the bath.
 The circuit board after being fluxed, is then either manually or automatically passed against the crest
of the solder wave by a conveyor.

 Reflow soldering
 Reflow soldering is the most common method of attaching surface mount components to a circuit
board.
 Heating may be accomplished by passing the assembly through a reflow oven.

 SOLDER SPECIFICATION
 For the mass-soldering of printed wiring boards, solder complying with BS 219 Grade K (60/40
tin/lead) is the one most commonly used, since it has a free-flow characteristic which permits good
joint formation in the short period during which boards are in contact with the solder.
 The solder temperature is chosen for each individual combination of board and types of material
being processed, but it should normally be within the range 220°C to 260°C.

 SOLDER MASK AND SILK SCREEN

 What gives the PCB its green or brown colour is the solder mask.
 This is an insulating and protective coat that protects the thin copper wires and prevents solder from
attaching outside the connection points for the components.
 Elimination of bridging between closely spaced conductors and mountings.
 Protection is afforded against corrosion and contamination during storage, handling subsequent life of
the circuit.
 On top of this coloured mask a silk screen is printed.
 This is text and symbols (often white) printed on the board to label the locations for the different
components that are to be mounted.
 The silk screen is also referred to as the legend.

 TECHNOLOGIES FOR COMPONENT PACKING

 THROUGH HOLE TECHNOLOGY
 The components that are mounted on one side on the board while its legs are soldered on the opposite
side are called 'Through Hole' (THT: Through Hole Technology).
 Such components takes up a large amount of space and require one hole to be drilled in the PCB for
every leg. Hence, their legs occupy space on both sides of the board, and the connection points for
them are also fairly large.
 On the other hand, THT components are fairly good mechanically connected to the PCB compared to
Surface Mounted devices.
 Connectors for cables and similar devices also have to withstand mechanical stress and are usually
THT.

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 SURFACE-MOUNT TECHOLOGY
 Surface-mount technology (SMT) is a method for producing electronic circuits in which the
components are mounted or placed directly onto the surface of printed circuit boards (PCBs). An
electronic device so made is called a surface-mount device (SMD).
 In the industry it has largely replaced the through-hole technology construction method of fitting
components with wire leads into holes in the circuit board. Both technologies can be used on the
same board, with the through-hole technology used for components not suitable for surface mounting
such as large transformers and heat-sinked power semiconductors.
 An SMT component is usually smaller than its through-hole counterpart because it has either smaller
leads or no leads at all. It may have short pins or leads of various styles, flat contacts, a matrix
of solder balls.

Advantages
 Much higher component density.
 Components can be placed on both sides of the circuit board.
 Better mechanical performance under shake and vibration conditions.
 Fewer holes need to be drilled.
 Lower initial cost and time of setting up for production.
 Simpler and faster automated assembly. Some placement machines are capable of placing more than
136,000 components per hour.
 Many SMT parts cost less than equivalent through-hole parts.

Disadvantages:
 Manual prototype assembly or component-level repair is more difficult and requires skilled operators
and more expensive tools, due to the small sizes and lead spacing of many

PREPARED BY- P.D.NALAWADE.

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