#Altium pcb design pads crack#

Brittle laminates are also more likely to crack and introduce cratering. The thickness of the board, and hardness of epoxy change how the board flexes, and increase the likelihood of cratering. The PCB materials can also affect outcomes. Obviously, array area components are at the greatest risk, but components with smaller trace pitch, larger size, or rigid packaging are also more prone to cratering issues. Many factors in your board design and manufacturing process affect the risk of cratering on your PCB. Often, extensive and destructive testing is required to positively identify cratering as a fundamental issue with PCB performance.

Sometimes, you can see the damage during optical inspection (some good examples are on page 31 of this presentation). You may find odd performance issues due to increased resistance at the joint, or intermittent contact, as well as completely open circuits. Electrical failures from open circuits may be inconsistent, especially between different boards from the same batch. What does it do to my PCB?Д«ecause cratering doesnвЂ™t always result in a complete separation between the pad and the rest of the PCB, faults are difficult to identify. Ball grid arrays are the most prone to pad cratering. When the PCB under an array of solder beads flexes, the board and component donвЂ™t bend at the same rate, and the copper pads are ripped away from the PCB as the board is strained. Cracking starts in the laminate when the board is bent during testing, manufacturing, vibration during transport, or even having connectors attached. A variety of processing parameters can increase your risk of cratering, but the ultimate cause is almost always mechanical strain. In a total separation, the solder usually remains attached to the component and looks like the pad is intact.Д¬ratering most commonly happens on area array designs, like ball grids (BGAs), and less commonly to other components with many connections. The separation can be a partial or entire disconnect from the board, which often makes it harder to identify the fault. Pad cratering, as I mentioned, occurs when a copper termination pad separates from the PCB. You can be sure the aftermath is just a serious as a pumpkin crater, though. In reality, the вЂњcratersвЂќ result from a pad separating from the surface of the PCB, and leaving behind a divot in the laminate. On a PCB, pad cratering sounds like it should be caused by tiny flaming meteorites, or something comparably dramatic. I think craters in all forms should be accompanied by that level of frantic energy. New launch regulations were hotly debated with the administration for the rest of the year since apparently late fall is a difficult season for repairing pumpkin craters in the turf. The total lateral distance covered was about a meter, so the spectators were in no danger, but the perfectly coiffed lawn took some damage. However, one year, a pumpkin somehow got launched straight up, and we all raced around shrieking in excitement, unsure of where to seek cover. We had occasional glorious pumpkin flights, but most pumpkins really didnвЂ™t make it very far. Most of the engineers got (or took) the morning off for cheering and jeering. Sections of campus were blocked off and your path to class was rerouted if you went at all. Mostly, mechanical engineering students participated, but anyone was allowed to enter and see if they could launch their pumpkin the farthest. Every year after Halloween, my school used to have a pumpkin launch, probably so they could get the pumpkins on sale.