Riveting is a process used to fasten printed circuit board to housing that offers several advantages compared to screws. This involves a cylindrical pin that protrudes from the housing being compressed with a concave tool to produce a rivet head that fills the PCB hole and holds it in place over service life of the component. The process as performed currently in-house uses parameters that have not been optimized. Testing has revealed that the process is subjecting the PCB to surface strains higher than 1000μɛ which is the limit as recommended by standards. Exceeding this limit reduces the reliability of electrical components and increases risk of field failures. This risk can be mitigated by improving the riveting process parameters to prevent high strain from reaching components.
Having a finite element model for high deformation problems is an essential prerequisite to explore riveting process improvement. So the first goal is to identify a finite element procedure that converges well for large deformation problems and validate it with physical testing in terms of PCB strain, reaction force on tool and PCB hole filling level. Validation would also involve modeling strain gauges and placing them strategically on the PCB to ensure good comparison with test results. Then, suggestions need to be proposed to improve the riveting process based on simulations.
