Experimental and numerical analyses of flexible PCBs under various loading conditions

This work will present case studies of three types of flexible printable circuits subjected to different loading conditions in order to evaluate their technologies regarding mechanical reliability. Typical causes of failure in electronic devices are associated with mechanical stress, moisture, heat from transportation and field use. Typically manufacturers carry out tests to evaluate the reliability of electronic components regarding these environmental loads. Common tools used for this evaluation, in early stages of design, are FEA (finite element analysis) and experimental laboratory tests. In this work simulation models were generated aiming at developing tools for early stages of design, and mechanical tests were performed to assess actual reliability of parts and also to provide information to evaluate the simulation models. The different types of failure in the flexible printed embedded circuits, such as delamination, will be presented. Failures due to high shear stresses in flex-rigid joints will also be evaluated. Experimental tests and computational simulation will also be applied in order to perform these evaluations.