Monday 28 August 2017

What Every PCB Engineer Should Know About PCB Stencils

The world of electronics manufacturing would be considered pretty much incomplete without PCB stencil technology. While printed circuit boards or PCBs have become the foundation for all kinds of electronics devices and applications, stenciling is the catalyst that has made its production process more commercially viable and effective on an industrial scale. So if you are an engineer, it is your utmost duty to know as much as you can about PCB stencils. This blog post will provide you with an initial glimpse.

The process of PCB manufacturing involves application of solder paste on the circuit board or substrate upon which the electrical connections and components will later be placed and secured. This solder paste creates a firm and reliable bond through which electricity will flow, making the PCB functional, thereby getting the electronic device in question to run.    

As an engineer, you will definitely appreciate the challenge that this step of the manufacturing process poses. Whether for a single PCB creation or for industrial scale manufacturing, an engineer needs to ensure that the solder paste goes exactly where it is intended to be on the substrate. Even the slightest straying from the decided path or inadvertent leaks/spreads can cause unintended bridging and faults in the circuit, causing the PCB to fail. PCB stencils are designed and printed to avoid these issues, allowing for accurate, effective and reliable production of circuit boards on a mass scale.

Using PCB stencils in the electronics manufacturing process is quite easy to understand. The stencil is crafted in accordance with the PCB design relevant to the application. For paste application, the stencil is placed on the substrate and the fluid-like solder is squeegeed onto its surface. The pathways and holes in the stencil dictate the exact position where the solder paste needs to be at. The components of the circuit are placed next onto the substrate in a way that the solder paste secures them firmly in place. The stencil is then carefully removed and the process is complete.

PCB stencils have, in a way, improved the precision and effectiveness of the surface mounted technology manufacturing process singlehandedly. The importance of stencils can therefore, never be over-emphasized for a PCB engineer.

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