The Impact of PCB Warping on PCBA Quality
PCB designing is the very begaining of PCB fabrication. PCB warping, a common issue in electronic manufacturing, significantly compromises the quality and reliability of PCBA (Printed Circuit Board Assembly). When warping exceeds 0.75% of the board length (e.g., >2.1 mm for a 300 mm board), it directly undermines solder joint integrity. During reflow soldering, uneven thermal expansion causes misalignment, leading to solder defects such as voids in BGA joints (up to 40% increase) and QFP pin virtual soldering (2.8 times higher than normal) . Additionally, warped boards exacerbate mechanical stress on components, raising the risk of internal copper layer microcracks and impedance anomalies.
In automated testing, warping induces 35% higher contact failure rates with test fixtures, resulting in misjudgments and reduced production efficiency. For end-products, especially in precision industries like medical devices, warping beyond 0.75 mm can slash assembly yield to below 60% due to mismatches with enclosures. Long-term reliability is also severely affected, with 30–40% shorter solder joint fatigue life and 2.3 times higher component dropping risk under vibration tests. These issues collectively degrade product performance, increase scrap rates, and escalate manufacturing costs.
With above considering, during PCB designing, engineers must pay much attention to the warping problem. So let us see how to prevent this situation ?
Suggestions to prevent Warping in PCB designing
1. To reduce the effect to temperature on PCB stress .
2. To use the material with high tg value
3. To add the thickness of PCB
4. To reduce the size of PCB and the quantity of one panel
5. To use the reflow carrier tooling
6. To use Routing instead of V-Cut .
