Static and Dynamic Flex PCB Layout Comparison

Like it or otherwise, flex as well as rigid-flex PCBs are below to remain, and also gradually extra flexible electronic devices are moving out of the research phase and also into industry. Flex PCBs are currently utilized for a lot more than powering an electric motor in your magnetic hard disk. Any type of tool that contains a collapsible or converting element likely includes a dynamic flex PCB.

With the growth in the flex PCB market reaching tens of billions, PCB developers have every reward to learn as much as they can about both static and also vibrant flex PCB style. Your firm’s next product or a redesign of an existing product might depend on it.

Static vs. Dynamic Flex PCBs
Any kind of flex PCB is connected to a rigid-flex PCB because they use the exact same products for the flex layer. Rather than having stiff areas with polyimide core surrounded by copper as well as prepreg, a flex PCB is constructed totally from a flexible product. Polyimide is generally made use of as it is easily adaptable to rigid-flex manufacturing procedures and is relatively affordable, although polymer products like polyethylene naphthalate (PEN ), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), as well as Aramid can also be used for flex ribbons.

Flex PCBs can be developed as vibrant or static PCBs. Creating either kind of flex PCB is as much a mechanical exercise as it is an electrical workout. PCB style software with ECAD/MCAD collaboration functions are terrific for designing either type of flex PCB. When planning a stackup and positioning traces flex PCBs, the curved area of the board need to be dealt with as a bent rectangle-shaped plate during mechanical analysis. This is crucial for figuring out the appropriate trace density in order to avoid cracking and failing.

Whether you are developing a fixed or dynamic flex PCB, a thicker total flexible stackup requires a larger bending span. This decreases the quantity of tensile and also compressive anxiety from concentrating along the bend while forming the PCB to the desired angle. Positioning a smaller bend radius in a thicker PCB can create the coverlay to number at the surface layer inside the bend. This then puts more compressive shear stress and anxiety on the traces that lie inside the neutral flexing axis. If you want to minimize the overall density, there are flexible coverlays available that do not call for an adhesive.

Static Flex PCBs: Production Considerations
Once a fixed flex PCB is produced, it is typically curved during setting up to the wanted span of curvature and also bend angle with a compressive creating device. This tool imitates a vise, as well as customized forming tools can be made use of to position multiple bends in a solitary flex ribbon all at once.

Static flex PCBs are usually overformed past the return point, suggesting they are bent beyond their intended bend radius in order to make certain some plastic deformation during developing. This avoids the flex PCB from relaxing back to its initial shape once it is eliminated from the creating tool. When the fixed flexing radius as well as angle are specified in a static PCB, you ought to in fact prepare to have a margin of security in your trace density in order to avoid hairline cracking and also failure throughout overforming.

Fixed board developed with flex PCB design strategies

Fixed flex bow for a clinical gadget, as included in Electronic devices Weekly.

Intuition could mention that the traces ought to be thicker in order to stand up to the anxiety called for throughout overforming, however intuition is not always proper. Put simply, the thicker the circuit, the less it can flex without damage. Thicker flex PCBs will require greater overforming to conform to the desired bend distance and also angle. This puts even more tension on traces during developing.

Just like a curved rectangular plate, there will certainly be a neutral bending axis throughout the flexed board, which defines a contour along which there is no longitudinal tensile or compressive stress. Thinner traces can withstand better compressive anxiety than tensile tension, so thinner traces can be put inside the neutral bending axis. The shift in the neutral flexing axis will certainly depend upon the flexing span. An excellent rule of thumb for the minimum bend distance is to make use of the list below equation:

If the stackup as well as trace density are picked properly, following this regulation will ensure that the neutral bending axis will not move considerably from the centerline of the PCB. As the layer count increases, this will certainly make sure that you abide by the IPC 2223C criteria on the flexing proportion (bend span divided by density) in flex PCBs.

Dynamic Flex PCBs: Sturdiness
A number of the same layout factors to consider for static flex PCBs likewise apply to vibrant flex PCBs. A critical issue in vibrant flex PCBs is work setting during repeated bending. Copper will certainly function harden under duplicated biking, ultimately ending up being brittle and vulnerable to fracture. The toughness can be extended by just permitting a larger bending span. It is typically advised that vibrant flex PCBs not surpass a 90 ° bend angle.

As the PCB flexes, the neutral bending axis will certainly shift in the direction of the inside of the bend. This is really important in vibrant flex PCBs as it limits the number of permitted copper layers to a reduced number, usually only a solitary layer that coincides with the neutral bending axis. Although copper is ductile, it will certainly work harden when consistently placed under anxiety. If you do choose to make use of more than one layer in a flex PCB, the traces ought to be startled, i.e., they should not overlap in surrounding layers, in order to avoid excessive tension on traces further from the neutral flexing axis.

To avoid unnecessary stress on traces, make certain to permit a sufficient margin of safety and also focus on the minimal bend radius. Make certain that the minimal bend radius is smaller sized than the intended bend distance in order to stop anxiety at the edges of the board. This will certainly slow work solidifying as well as help expand the usable life of the PCB.

Flex bow to power a hard drive electric motor

Fixed flex ribbon for a hard disk

As flex PCB layout remains to make invasions in even more devices, designers require software program for flex PCBs that reduces layer stack layout, manufacturing preparation, as well as extra. Altium Designer supplies these important design tools, MCAD devices, as well as much more in a single unified style user interface. The instinctive style interface and also rules-driven style engine is easily versatile to stiff, rigid-flex, and also fully flexible PCB design.