Estimation of equivalent mechanical properties of multi-layered PCBs based on FEA, vibration testing and analytical calculation

Abstract

Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) are most important parts of nearly all modern electronic devices meant for mechanical support to the electronic components and to create the conductive paths to meet the desired circuit or to electrically connect the electronic components. Most commonly PCB’s are based on a laminate of multiple layers of weaved glass fiber and epoxy with copper on one or both sides of the PCB to form the electrical conductors. PCB material selection shall be undertaken with core and knowledge for electrical necessities of a given piece of equipment.In this paper, keeping fundamental frequency as a reference the equivalent mechanical properties of PCBs are being estimated by FE analysis, testing and calculations. Five number of PCB’s with different thickness, dimension and copper layers are considered for the estimation and comparison of mechanical properties. The relative mechanical properties are varied, different types of boundary conditions and damping values have been employed for the assessment of mechanical properties, mainly young’s modulus and possion’s ratio. These equivalent mechanical property values are documented and utilized as a reference.The damping values has been varied in sine response analysis to correlate the dynamic behavior/signature of analysis and testing results and which is not discussed in this paper.