Circuit Board Stiffeners, Bus Bars, and PCB Components

Requirements for lead-free PCBs: rigid circuit board stiffeners, high current carrying bus bars, larger ground planes, and other circuit components.

What is the purpose of stiffeners for PCBs? Increasing the rigidity of modern circuit boards is more important than ever in both the manufacturing phase and the actual application usage phase. With the adaptation of lead-free solder for meeting the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive also known as RoHS, and the increased temperatures required in wave soldering of the components to the circuit boards due to these various lead restrictions, and the changes of having to use different metals and alloys which are more brittle, this places significant additional strains on the circuit boards, traces, and components used in all phases of a circuit board’s life.

While keeping a board flat through the manufacturing and assembly process is critical for manufacturing quality boards, the natural environmental elements of thermal expansion and contraction through both hot and cold operating temperatures and the natural warming and cooling cycles when a circuit board is in use, and normal vibration factors involved in various types of application usage, can cause early board failures developing from cracked traces and cold solder joints.

“Lead-free solders, which were relative novelties a few years ago, are now widely understood, although not always in a positive sense. The most commonly used lead-free solders are known to be more brittle than lead-tin solders, and there have been suggestions recently that there may be large numbers of failures related to lead-free solders in the next several years, both in civilian and non-civilian applications.”

Military and Aerospace Electronics | Achieving reliability with lead-free solders, January 1, 2008, By Keith Gurnett and Tom Adams

Solutions for a post Pb (Lead) world:

• Are you looking to strengthen large or sagging circuit boards?
• Need to straighten out those warped PCBs and prevent shorts to chassis or from one board to another?
• Need bus bars to carry the extra current on your PCBs?
• Looking for extra ground planes mounted above the PCB traces?
• Need a combined assembly with a current carrying bus and a ground plane, sandwiched in a 2 layer assembly that can be quickly mounted to the PCBs?
• Looking for high current capacity buses without the need for thick PCB traces?
• Increase rigidity and reduce vibration.
• Looking to increase PCB manufacturing yields, reliability, and longevity of the circuit boards?
  

E-FAB Manufactures PCB Stiffeners, Bus Bars, Ground Planes, and Other PCB Circuit Components

E-FAB can build it for you. Simply provide the drawings and specs of what you are looking for and we will get you a quote. Our engineers are here to help you with the details.