Metal-core printed circuit boards have increased in popularity alongside the popularity of LED-based products during the past few years. Given that an LED-based light can be around 5 times more cost-effective to operate than a comparable incandescent unit, the automotive and lighting industries have welcomed the technology, as have consumers. Even smaller fluorescents have slightly higher operating costs, and when it comes to making the best use of available space, they fall short of the smallest LEDs.
These and other reasons have led to an increase in the number of gadgets that use LEDs as a key component of their design. However, heat is one component of LED functioning that must always be considered when designing products.
Standard PCB
We are a full-service supplier of both standard and unique printed circuit boards. A standard printed circuit board is the most popular PCB solution for every need. We can offer quick turn times and flexibility to meet our customers’ strict project deadlines thanks to our U.S.-based manufacturing facilities and the most modern PCB fabrication equipment.
There are various common or standard PCB thicknesses available for PCBs. 0.062 inches, 0.093 inches, and 0.031 inches are a few of them. Naturally, various design and manufacturing aspects should be considered when establishing the PCB thickness.
Once the prototype boards have been created and your idea has been thoroughly evaluated, standard PCBs are useful. After that, ordering standard PCBs in quantity can significantly reduce expenses. Strict internal quality assurance testing can be used to ensure that standard PCBs are completely dependable and comply with IPC 2.
After the prototype and design phases are complete, standard PCBs are widely used in high-volume production runs. They function effectively even for enormous designs since they can largely print sophisticated circuit boards. All standard PCBs have had their designs for manufacturing analyzed, ensuring that the PCB design will function as intended.
The only need to use this particular board size is if you are designing to some standard, although many fabrication firms will probably advertise their capacity to make 1.57 mm boards. Instead of 1.57 mm thick boards, standardized interfaces like Mini PCIe use 1 mm thick.
Metal Core PCB
LEDs are similar to other circuit board-mounted components in many aspects. There isn’t much of a purpose to interestingly arranging your PCB if there are only a few LEDs, such as green and red power-on and power-off indicators. There are other lighting options, though, that use rows or arrays of LEDs that are continuously on.
Keeping these devices cool is important to prevent early failure or the creation of a safety concern. Additionally, efficient cooling is necessary to ensure constant light output.
Using unique substrate materials that are specially prepared to increase the reliability of designs that operate at higher-than-usual temperatures is one advantage of a metal core PCB. The substrate actively transfers heat from hot-running component locations to the layer on the opposite side of the board, where it can be safely and effectively dissipated instead of only acting as a mounting platform for the various components.
Conclusion
The final decision will depend on your specific application requirements. Metal core and standard printed circuit boards have several differences, and standard boards work perfectly if you want to maintain flexibility with PCB thickness. However, metal PCBs would be preferable for electromagnetic shielding and minimizing board space.
A solid-state relay architecture requires a thermally efficient and mechanically durable structure, which metal core PCBs offer. To satisfy the demands of excellent thermal performance that can even outperform current ceramic-based designs, manufacturers are finding new forms of metal core PCB material, especially dielectrics.
Recent Comments