Browse Topic: Printed circuit boards
The rapid advancement of electric vehicle (EV) technology has created a demand for reliable and Thermal - efficient electronic components for power electronics and control systems on printed circuit boards (PCBs). The research looks at the overall simulation and study of a PCB for Electric Vehicles, including how it handles heat, stress, and reliability in real working conditions like considering casing (Heat Sink) in which PCB is held, into the simulation. We have used numerical based methods (reliability), Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) methods to simulate heat performance looking at steady-state and changing load profiles common in EV powertrains. We ran structural and thermal simulations to check the PCB's toughness against heat expansion and shaking loads often seen in cars. We also did a reliability check looking at heat cycling life for PCB components, and possible ways it could break to guess long-term toughness. The results show critical hot spots in the PCB design, structure warping from mechanical stress, and highlighted key things that affect how long the PCB components can lasts. Based on these simulations, we suggested some ways to manage heat, and structural rigidity, like selecting better materials and placing parts at smarter location. This study shows a step-by-step way to use multi-physics simulations early when designing EV PCBs leading to better heat control mechanical toughness, and overall system reliability.
From satellites and commercial aircraft to uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs), the reliability of aerospace and defense electronics depends on their ability to perform flawlessly in extreme conditions. While stresses such as altitude changes, vacuum, vibration, moisture and chemical exposure have the potential to wreak havoc on electronic components, conformal coatings have become essential to providing protection in the midst of these challenges. Applied as thin, lightweight films that follow the contours of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and components, conformal coatings create a barrier between the electronics and the harsh environments in which they must perform. The coatings' ability to provide dielectric insulation, chemical protection and moisture resistance ensures that mission-critical electronics remain functional on the ground, in the sea, in flight or in orbit.
Material solutions for thermal management, protection and assembly. Today's ADAS designers are adding more electronic components and redundant computing systems to printed circuit boards (PCBs). These heat-generating electronic assemblies are installed in enclosures that provide environmental protection, but the high heat generated by high-performance computing systems can degrade ADAS performance or cause device failure. Not all thermal management materials can withstand temperatures up to 200 C (392 F), and most do not retain their flexibility at elevated temperatures. This creates a problem when PCB components expand and contract at different rates due to mismatches in their coefficients of thermal expansion.
Aerospace and defense system designers are demanding scalable and high-performance I/O solutions. While traditional mezzanine standards have proven reliable, they often fall short of meeting modern bandwidth, size, and flexibility requirements. This challenge is particularly evident in aerospace and defense applications where high-speed data processing must align with stringent size, weight, and power (SWaP) constraints. Current mezzanine solutions also face significant limitations in scalability, thermal management, and I/O density. These constraints can lead to compromised system performance and limited upgrade paths in applications where adaptability is crucial. This article explores how the new VITA 93 (QMC) standard addresses these challenges through its innovative QMC architecture, enabling unprecedented flexibility, scalability, and rugged reliability while maintaining compatibility with existing and future systems. It also covers how VITA 93 (QMC) builds on lessons learned from previous standards, blending their best features with new capabilities for the future.
The aerospace and defense industries demand the highest levels of reliability, durability, and performance from their electronic systems. Central to achieving these standards are laminate materials, which form the backbone of printed circuit boards (PCBs) and flexible circuits used in a multitude of applications, from avionics to missile guidance systems. Building these systems, which are typically implemented in environments that experience both temperature extremes and wide variations of temperature over time, requires robust materials that can stand up to punishing environmental conditions. Laminates and films for circuit boards and flexible circuits are a vital component of this protective material profile.
As electronic medical device technology progresses, their internal printed circuit boards (PCBs) have undergone a transformative evolution to integrate a diverse array of materials. This evolution is driven by the need to fulfill stringent requirements for enhanced performance, compact size, and heightened reliability. However, the proliferation of materials poses a considerable challenge: finding cleaning solutions capable of efficiently removing contaminants without compromising the integrity of these delicate components.
Inverter is the power electronics component that drives the electrical motor of the electrical driven compressor (EDC) and communicates with the car network. The main function of the inverter is to convert the direct current (DC) voltage of the car battery into alternating current (AC) voltage, which is used to drive the three-phase electric motor. In recent days, inverters are present in all automotive products due to electrification. Inverter contains a printed circuit board (PCB) and electronic components, which are mounted inside a mechanical housing and enclosed by a protective cover. The performance of the electrical drive depends upon the functioning of the inverter. There is a strong demand from the customer to withstand the harsh environmental and testing conditions during its lifetime such as leakage, dust, vibration, thermal tests etc. The failure of the inverter leads to malfunction of the product, hence proper sealing and validation is necessary for inverters to protect the electronic components. Generally, a metallic gasket and rubber gaskets are used as a sealant to protect the electronic components. The influence of design parameters which impact the gasket pressure by selecting the type of screws, number of screws required, minimum distance between the screws and minimum preload required to withstand the thermal conditions are studied and discussed in this paper. The simulation results predict the gasket pressure due to compression, shape of gasket and compressive ratio. The gasket pressure measured from pressure sensitive film test results are well correlated with simulation gasket pressure results. Finally, this robust methodology supports us to virtually validate the gasket design by reducing the number of design iterations and quick evaluation of products.
As medical devices become more complex, designers must use the available spaces within their devices more efficiently. Several PCBs often have to be connected in the tightest of spaces.
Manufacturing electronic medical devices and the complex printed circuit boards (PCBs) within them demands stringent quality control measures to ensure the highest level of performance, reliability, and safety. Process validation is a critical step in the production cycle to verify that manufacturing processes consistently produce products of the highest quality.
The data centers and high-performance computers that run artificial intelligence programs, such as large language models, aren’t limited by the computational power of their individual nodes. It’s another problem — the amount of data they can transfer among the nodes — that underlies the “bandwidth bottleneck” that currently limits the performance and scaling of these systems.
Medical device technology is continually advancing and helping shape the future of healthcare. It is used in every area of the industry, from simple remote patient monitoring like smart watches to sophisticated implantable equipment like pacemakers and cochlear hearing devices. Its importance is evident with the global medical electronics market size evaluated at USD $101.06 billion in 2022 with growth projections anticipating $248.43 billion by 2032.1
RF filters are critical components in aerospace and defense electronic systems. In high-frequency transmissions, they channel desired signals and reject unwanted signals, enabling reliable signal processing across the RF, microwave, and millimeter wave (mmWave) electromagnetic spectrum. In operating environments with many such signals, including from jammers trying to disrupt the operation of some systems, RF filters are employed in progressively higher frequencies. At the same time, systems engineers are requesting smaller filters that fit within drop-in surface mount technology (SMT) packages mounted within compact printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies.
RF filters are critical components in aerospace and defense electronic systems. In high-frequency transmissions, they channel desired signals and reject unwanted signals, enabling reliable signal processing across the RF, microwave, and millimeter wave (mmWave) electromagnetic spectrum. In operating environments with many such signals, including from jammers trying to disrupt the operation of some systems, RF filters are employed in progressively higher frequencies. At the same time, systems engineers are requesting smaller filters that fit within drop-in surface mount technology (SMT) packages mounted within compact printed circuit board (PCB) assemblies. Selecting a filter for an A&D application requires an understanding of available RF filter responses, physical formats, and technologies, with a good idea of necessary functional goals, such as separating channels or rejecting interference. The optimum filter for an aerospace and defense (A&D) system need not take up much space but should meet or exceed certain performance goals, such as passband insertion loss and stopband rejection. Commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) filters can sometimes provide the performance needed by A&D systems, but custom designs are often needed for top performance. Working closely with a filter designer and manufacturer can meet an A&D system's RF filter requirements in a timely and reliable manner.
Printed Circuit Boards are the heart of the electronics industry. They are used in a diverse range of applications starting from consumer electronics to complicated aerospace and military domains. The design considerations vary according to the requirements of the end product. Military and aerospace PCBs follow the most critical and strict design standards as they have to operate in tough environmental conditions with exposure to vibrations, contaminations, and extreme temperatures.
Today the light-duty commercial market is dominated by internal combustion engine powered vehicles, primarily diesel-powered delivery vans, which contribute to urban air quality issues. Global concerns regarding climate change have prompted zero emission vehicles to be mandatory in many markets as soon as 2035. For the light-duty commercial vehicle sector there is significant interest in pure electric vehicles. However, for some markets, or usage cases, electric vehicles may not be the best solution due to practical limitations of battery energy storage capacity or recharging times. For such applications there is growing interest in hydrogen fuel cells as a zero emissions alternative. Bramble Energy’s patented printed circuit board (PCB) fuel cell technology (PCBFC™) enables the use of cost-effective production methods and materials from the PCB industry to reduce the cost and complexity of manufacturing hydrogen fuel cell stacks. This paper will describe the integration of a water-cooled PCBFC fuel cell system into a light-duty commercial vehicle demonstrator. The details of the bespoke fuel cell stack will be presented. The approach adopted to specify and design the balance of plant for the fuel cell system will also be described. A new fuel cell controller has also been developed and the key elements of the stack operating strategy will be explained. The resulting demonstrator vehicle has been tested and ongoing developments steps to improve the power density and efficiency of the fuel cell system will also be introduced. This demonstrator vehicle has shown that the PCBFC technology is a viable technology for automotive applications.
The need for long-range, high-resolution and accuracy all-weather sensor is critical for a higher level of vehicular autonomy. Unlike cameras and lidars, radars offer these capabilities when designed well. Key target criteria for automotive radar are multimode operation with a large Field of View, high frame rates, and the ability to detect and resolve weaker targets in the presence of stronger ones. Existing radar providers and automotive Tier 1s can work with startups to eliminate the arduous steps to streamline the front-end antennas and ICs integration avoiding the complex and costly multi-layers Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) designs. The next big step in automotive radar is considering this “Lego” pieces building blocks for flexible and scalable modular architectures for multi-mode operation for high accuracy and precision targeting broad applications without the heavy time, resources, and cost to develop automotive radars for mass markets. Metawave is building the first front-end beamformer Antenna in Package (AiP) with first multi-channel 77GHz beamforming Integrated Circuit (IC) that will be designed and tested with its full SPEKTRA radar. These AiP modules combined with advanced MIMO algorithms and AWARE object classifications deliver 5D radars for range, velocity, horizontal and vertical tracking, and real-time labeling. Being radar transceiver chip agnostic, SPEKTRA operates over the 76-81 GHz band and can be combined with multiple radar chips to operate in concert with or independently from any target operation. The objective of this paper is to highlight key SPEKTRA aspects and functionalities in automotive radar and show the reader how a modular “building blocks” approach to building radar applications to reach very specific goals is achievable by combining tested and perfected innovative antennas, IC chips, AI software, and modular Tx and Rx chips.
Due to the complex reaction mechanism and closed structure of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), on-line measurement and detection are challenging. Also, the uneven distribution of reactants and products in all directions within the PEMFC, so it is essential to measure and predict the local current density distribution. In order to measure and identify the operating parameters accurately, timely, and quickly, it is necessary to improve the detection means of the fuel cell system. Based on the distributed (printed circuit board) PCB measurement technology, an integrated monitoring current distribution sensor system is designed. Combined with the structural parameters of the fuel cell, the selection scheme and layout scheme of measurement components are proposed. With the help of Altium Designer software, the PCB measuring circuit board is designed and made. Special design for the PCB structure is achieved to direct contact measurement with the plane of the bipolar board. NI acquisition equipment with LabVIEW is used to collect and record the voltage of sampling resistors in XY plane of fuel cell single. Without changing the internal structure of the fuel cell, the in-plane voltage signal of the fuel cell is collected, and then the data are calculated and processed. So as to obtain the relevant information of impedance in-plane fuel cell single, after that, an AC signal is added, and the fast Fourier transform (FFT) is used to calculate the in-plane distributed impedance. This circuit board has the characteristics of high integration. It realizes the on-line monitoring of the voltage and current density distribution in the fuel cell single XY plane and provides data support for the calculation of in-plane impedance and the analysis of the process of distributed polarization.
Phased arrays have been used in radar applications for many decades. Recent trends are driving their adoption into other applications such as Electronic Warfare (EW), satellite systems, and even 5G communications. There are several new component technologies that are driving this migration: multiple transmit/receive (T/R) modules on a chip, higher-performance PCB laminates, and the acceptance of GaN as a power amplifier (PA) semiconductor process.
NASA Goddard Space Flight Center has developed a printable nanosensor and leads using 3D printing techniques on a silicon daughter board that can be connected to a self-contained pre-amp printed circuit board (PCB). The sensor contains a graphene sensor array (a printed CNT or MoS2 could also work) and a PCB with pre-amplifier circuit connected to the daughter board with mechanical clips and wire-bonded together. The sensor dimensions are typically from microns to hundreds of microns. This innovation increases the sensitivity of gas sensors, enabling detection of ppb level concentration (and possibly single molecules).
A raise of efficiency is the strongest selling point concerning the total cost of ownership (TCO), especially for commercial vehicles (CV). Accompanied by legislations, with contradictive development demands, satisfying solutions have to be found. The analysis of energy losses in modern engines shows three influencing parameters. Wall heat transfer (WHT) losses are awarded with the highest optimization potential. Critical for the occurrence of these losses is the WHT, which can be described by representing coefficients. To reduce WHT accompanying losses a decrease of energy transfer between combustion gas and combustion chamber wall is necessary. A measurement of heat fluxes is necessary to determine the WHT relations of the combustion chamber in an engine. As this has not been done for a Heavy-Duty (HD) engine, with peak pressures up to 250 bar, an increased in-cylinder turbulence and high exhaust gas recirculation (EGR)-rates before, it is presented in the following. Different methods to determine wall heat flux, as well as data transfer variants for data measured at the piston, are presented and compared. The non-integer system identification method (NISI) and the data transfer with a specially manufactured printed circuit board (PCB) therefore represent explicit novelties for the usage in an internal combustion engine. Finally the application chosen for the measurements to determine heat fluxes is described in greater detail. The assembly method, the positioning of the thermocouples at the engine parts and the considerations behind it are shown as well. The applied evaluation process, including a Fourier transformation and the method for a holistic determination of the WHT relations of a HD engine are presented. [1, 2]
The use of modern laser technology has become standard in industrial manufacturing thanks to its speed, accuracy and effectiveness. Lasers are used to engrave parts, electronic printed circuit boards or chip cards. They perforate packaging; structure semiconductor wafers; drill, cut and weld plastics or metals; and create highly complex structures via 3D printing.
In this study, we are presenting design considerations for the development of a LED (Light-Emitting Diode) bi-function headlight module to replace conventional HID (High-Intensity Discharge) projector modules for retrofitting or first installation purposes. The objective was to develop a projector-type module to outperform current 35 W HID light sources in both low beam and high beam, but with far less installation space. Essential features like multichip LED usage and the optical system design will be described in detail. Special care was taken for the heat management of the high-power LEDs, with optimization of the heat dissipation thermal path via printed circuit board, heatsink and active cooling by extensive Computational Fluid Dynamics simulation work (CFD). The achieved projector lumen output of greater 1300 lm in low beam and 2000 lm in high beam enables a projector module of very compact size (<1,200 cm3) to easily replace HID modules.
Evolution in Radio Frequency (RF) semiconductor technology has led to highly power efficient devices. A typical automobile key fob for remote lock-unlock operations operates on 3V lithium coin cell battery having 200 mAh capacity and can last up to 75,000 key press events or two to three years. The typical transmission currents are less than 10 mA while sleep currents are less than 0.1 uA. As the lithium coin cell batteries are not rechargeable, they need to be replaced and safely disposed. Improper disposal of lithium batteries impose risk to the environment as lithium is highly poisonous and reactive. This paper proposes to replace the coin cell battery with a RF energy harvesting circuit involving voltage multiplier circuit consisting of zero bias schottky detector diodes and a hybrid energy storage capacitor. Authors have conducted experiments as well as simulation to evaluate the feasibility of the RF energy harvester replacing conventional coin cell battery. RF energy harvesting is less efficient due to losses during transmission and reception. This can be overcome by the limited number of operations of a key fob throughout the day and ease of placing it near commonly available RF sources in the vicinity such as mobile phones, wireless routers, microwave ovens, Bluetooth devices etc. The authors have modified the standard printed circuit board based loop antenna present in typical automotive remote key fob so that it can be used for RF energy harvesting. The proposed scheme can be extended to other low power battery operated RF devices after due consideration of usage profile.
Today’s automobiles include more electronics features and functions than at any time in history. From engine controller to crash sensing and passenger protection, all the way to automated driving, a complex network of electronic sensors and controls is being integrated into most of the vehicles. While many of these are necessary for increased comfort, convenience and safety, they must also be designed for the stringent quality requirements compared to standard consumer electronics. The business driven need for miniaturization with increased functionality but at reduced cost necessitates use of high density interconnection with advanced electronics components like Ball Grid Array (BGA) instead of many chip scale packages, which are potentially susceptible to failure while handling and shipping of the components. With the reduced mass of the component, accidental drop from the hand level would experience higher impact loading on the component to create significant damage. The usage of experimental approach to test out every possible design variation and identifying the one that gives the maximum design margin is often not feasible because of product development cycle time and cost constraints. Hence there is a fundamental need for understanding and predicting the failure mechanism during drop-impact using analytical approach. The objective of this paper is to develop system level simulation methodology to predict the failure of BGA package during drop test for an automotive electronic controller. The scope of the study focuses on correlating the simulation predicted response of the Printed Circuit Board (PCB) with experimental results. The design optimization study also has been conducted to investigate the optimum pad/adhesive thickness below the package to qualify product for a given drop condition. Finally, the key design modification like PCB thickness, pad thickness, effect of under-fill, pedestal size and location etc. has been suggested to mitigate the failure risks. This study has been adopted in various controller designs in investigating reasons for device failure and recommending the design modification.
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