A printed circuit board or a PCB can provide mechanical support to electronically connected electronic parts of a device using traces etched using copper sheets, conductive pathways, etc., laminated on a non-conductive substrate. Usually, preset IPC organization standards help design the PCB layout, maintain a certain level of quality, and follow an excellent turnkey PCB assembly pattern accepted by the industry. PCBs usually follow the IPC 2221A standard in design and quality control, which is the same for any material the PCB is made with.
An insulator is a prime component of any PCB, home to various layers of materials attached to the insulator itself. All these layers act as a form of grounding to the entire PCB. Now coming to the copper traces – they are created either by the mechanical laying of individual lines or by applying a copper coat to the entire board and stripping away what is left after your work is done. The second process is much more efficient, as this ensures that you have the exact amount of copper traces required on the PCB for connecting electronic components.
Many expert firms, such as Arshon Technology and private designers, can assist you in designing a PCB in the best possible way. With these experts, adding high-end features, viz., trace optimizer, auto-router, etc., becomes more accessible and decreases the layout time required. Some manual routing may be required to make the PCB much more efficient, but with these experts’ help, coupled with PCB design software with Altium, the process can be made less time-consuming and more productive.
There are various ways by which a custom PCB may be manufactured. Flexible circuit boards or flex circuit boards, for the more initiated, are flexible and allow the placement of components in locations thought to be otherwise impossible places for component placement.
If you want to know how essential PCBs are and why the manufacturing process is so intricate, look at satellites. Many satellites are floating outside our atmosphere, whose main component is a PCB in all its mechanical and electrical glory. These PCBs usually come equipped with rigid copper cores, which can conduct tremendous heat away from all the sensitive components on the board so that they can be protected from solar heat waves.
Let us now look at a few advantages and disadvantages of PCBs. Read on to find out more.
Advantages
- PCBs are very much reliable and highly cost-effective
- In the case of high-volume or bulk production, PCBs are quite economical
- All connections on the PCB are color-coded, making installation a whole lot easier
- A specific rating range is mentioned, which makes maintenance easier
Disadvantages
- The PCB layout requires more effort and focus
- PCBs are costlier than wire-wrapped or P2P-constructed circuits
- The production of PCB produces a chemical that can be pretty harmful
There is no room for any upgrades