Predicting the Lifetime of the PCB - From Experiment to Simulation

Two major drivers in electronic industry are electrical and mechanical miniaturization. Both induce major changes in the material selection as well as in the design. Nevertheless, the mechanical and thermal reliability of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) has to remain at the same high level or even increase (e.g. multiple lead-free soldering). To achieve these reliability targets, extensive testing has to be done with bare PCB as well as assembled PCB. These tests are time consuming and cost intensive. The PCBs have to be produced, assembled, tested and finally a detailed failure analysis is required to be performed.

This paper examines the development of our concept and has the potential to enable the prediction of the lifetime of the PCB using accelerated testing methods and finite element simulations....