Hi friends I hope you all are doing great. In this post, we will have a detailed look at Difference between Rigid PCB and Flex PCB by PCBWAY. PCB is the most commonly used electronic project board over which different types of electronic projects are designed. The strength working and durability of your project depends on the strength and quality of the PCB used for project creation. There are numerous PCB suppliers working in this world but the most famous PCB supplier that i recommend and also personally use its services is PCBWAY. It provides different services related to PCB and its different parameters such as PCBA.
There are numerous types of PCB according to their construction and uses such as single-layer PCB, double-layer PCB, and multiple-layer PCB. The two main commonly used types that we are going to discuss are rigid and flex PCB. Both of these PCB types can also be obtained from PCBWAY at a reasonable price. So let’s get started with the Difference between Rigid PCB and Flex PCB by PCBWAY.
Rigid PCB vs Flex PCB
- During the construction and design of rigid PCB board, there are some rules that should be followed that are least size of the hole, lease space and trace dia, the distance between board edges should be less with that copper, and complete designing thickness should be under control
- There are numerous steps during the construction of these two PCBs are similar.
- Such as the drilling and plating process of holes imaging and creation etching of copper traces outlines and heating purpose of the board to eliminate water vapor from the board.
- During this point in the procedure of construction, a rigid PCB board flowed through the solder mask station and flex circuitry went to the coverly station.
IPC Standards followed by Rigid and Flexible PCBs
- Here the detail of IPC standard for rigid and flex PCB is shown below.
- For generic standards on the printed board, designing IPC-2221A is used.
- For sectional designing IPC-2223 standard is followed.
- For features of base substance in rigid and multilayer, PCB board IPC-4101 standard is used.
- For flex base dielectric in flex circuitry, IPC 4202 is used.
- In the creation of flexible printed circuits IPC-4204 flexible metal called dielectric is used.
Wire Current carrying capacity
- As there is a difference between the heat capacity of rigid and flexible PCB it is compulsory to offer enough width of the wire.
- There is a large amount of current from some wires when they are placed close to each other for this there should be additional spacing or a large wire of width used.
Shape
- It does not matter in the situation certain rectangular size should be used since it can provide a good quality base close.
- Close to the edge of freedom must permit enough margin according to the substrate.
- In an aspect of shape, a round angle should be preferred while pointed angles can cause a tear panel.
- There is a need for a reduction in the small conductor width and space.
Flexibility
- It is a basic principle that the bending radius must be created at a larger strength. The usage of small laminate such as one twenty-five micrometer copper foil in place of wire and larger it can bear further instruction for high cycle bending of bending cycles.
Pads
- About the pad, there is a variation from flex substance to rigid substance. This part of the conductive substance can easily be fractured.
- So pad must be used in this part that is prone to bending. The physical dimension of the pad must be like a teardrop.
Where use rigid PCB and where use flexible PCB
- The price of a Rigid PCB is more costly than the flex PCB. If you consider price, you must use flex PCB in your projects as it is less expensive.
- Flex boards can eliminate the requirement of elements such as wire harnesses, connectors, and some other circuit parts.
- As a result, it reduces the construction and labor expensive price of materials also reduces.
- Numerous electronic modules are constructed with rigid PCBs in place of flex PCBs such as laptop and desktop computers, keyboards, SSDs, TVs, toys, and other electronic devices.
- While in some high-performance modules like GPS, smartphones tablets cameras, and wearables flex PCB is used,
PCBWay flexible PCB manufacturing capabilities
- The features provided by the PCBWAY for flexible PCB are described in the figure below.
How to Choose Between a Rigid and Flexible PCB
Rigid and flexible boards are used in different projects and circuits. Such as rigid boards are used for making sensors of larger products like in TVs and desktop computers and flexible boards are used for circuits where compact designs are needed like phones and wearable technology.
For the selection of rigid PCB and flexible board check the requirement of the product then use
What are flex PCBs used for?
- Flexible boards are used for the creation of regular flexing. Some basic uses of these boards are printer, phones, robotic design. Flexible boards are used where high accuracy and flexing are needed.
What are the disadvantages of flex rigid PCB?
- It is a complex design board and needs a difficult manufacturing process that causes low production and longer time and can affect project cost and longer time for production.
Can flex PCB have vias?
- Flex board comes with buried vias, if there is a mixture of buried and blind vias it is referred to remove vias since flex boards get bent when work
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That is a detailed post if you have any further queries ask in the comments. Thanks for reading.