A contemporary world that needs electronic devices to function requires circuit boards, PCB designers, and manufacturers, which most people overlook in favor of coders and software programmers. The two spheres work in tandem, though coming as a circuit board designer, I will stay within my bubble and focus on printed circuit boards. In fact, this article will focus on the 2.4mm PCB.
The 2.4mm Printed Circuit Board in Focus
Circuit boards come in diverse types and shapes, with the type often getting influenced by the thickness, layer number, and software used to design it. So it becomes standard to hear a PCB getting inferred to as an Eagle PCB (software used), a 2.4mm PCB (thickness), a four-layered PCB (number of layers), etc. But why does a printed circuit board prove crucial? It facilitates the transmission of the electrical, power, and electronic signals in ensuring the proper functioning of an electronic device.
A printed circuit board often gets composed of a non-conductive fr4 substrate, often developed by a paper-glass epoxy resin, a copper layer or layers, through-holes, connectors, etc. The first three aspects always prove responsible for the circuit board’s thickness. For instance, a 1.6mm raw material including the three makes up the 1.6mm PCB, similar to 2.4mm raw material composing the 2.4mm PCB.
While diverse thicknesses exist in printed circuit boards, the standard thickness often involves 1.6mm. However, thickness standards can vary depending on a manufacturing company.
Why Circuit Board Thickness Proves a Crucial Parameter
A printed circuit board’s thickness often and directly influences its functioning, consequently impacting the device’s operation it finally gets embedded in. The thickness of the circuit board always impacts the conductivity and resistance of the PCB, crucial aspects you must consider when it comes to mapping the application’s requirements. So what do we imply when talking about PCB thickness?
The printed circuit board thickness infers to the overall thickness of the board, which includes the core, the substrate, and the individual layers. For multilayer printed circuit boards, it often becomes pivotal to map the thickness and the wires and components running through to avoid any impedance from happening.
Different types of 2.4mm PCB exist, especially when it comes to the manufacturing process. The important thickness determinants have to be accounted for, such as the number of layers (like the single, double, and multilayer PCBs going up to eight layers), copper thickness, vias, drill size, minimum track width, etc. spacing, and the maximum board size. Besides the enumerated aspects, the tools and equipment deployed in the manufacturing process also determine the circuit board’s thickness. It, therefore, becomes crucial to determine the capacity of the contracted manufacturer to ensure their equipment cannot pose a challenge when it comes to the manufacture or fabrication of the correct board size.
What better company to get your 2.4mm printed circuit board than from RayMing PCB and Assembly Company? You will receive quality PCB products and allied services at affordable prices based on your design requirements and purchasing power. Additionally, you can always get customized services at an extra cost. Therefore, all you have to do entails visiting our homepage besides following the recommended channels in lodging your inquiries or uploading and sending your Gerber formatted printed circuit board design and layout for action.
Factors to Consider before Selecting a Printed Circuit Board’s Thickness
If you want to design and produce a 2.4mm printed circuit board, it becomes crucial to consider some of the influential factors that should guide you on either picking the 2.4mm board thickness or a thinner board during your design phase. The following factors have to rank high in your thoughts before picking a board’s thickness.
- Space. Your printed circuit board thickness has to get influenced by the potential packaging space of the PCB. A thinner board will take less, while a thicker board will occupy more space when packaging. Small devices ideally need tiny printed circuit boards, while large ones can deploy thicker PCBs without any problem. For instance, Bluetooth headsets will need a thinner USB compared to an industrial equipment’s PCB.
- Connections. The potential connections to the printed circuit board will determine the thickness of the printed circuit board design. It arises because the connectors to get deployed will differ. For instance, when using a printed circuit board edge connector or a USB-A connector, solely relying on PCB trace must have a thickness that fits with the connector’s mating segment.
- Impedance matching. It always happens that more than two layers act as a capacitor, especially when it comes to traces on contiguous layers. Additionally, the printed circuit board’s thickness determines the dielectric value, consequently playing a pivotal role in determining the board’s capacitance value. For instance, with a high-frequency signal that has a matching impedance, you will have to consider capacitance besides getting the correct board’s thickness in your PCB design.
- Flexibility. The thickness or thinness of a printed circuit board can determine its flexibility. While thinner boards can indeed flex, it can turn out problematic for P&P equipment, primarily when they prove large or panelized incorrectly. Additionally, the vee-grooves prove a bad idea for thinner boards besides smaller panels becoming better compared to large ones. However, remember that it always boils down to the manufacturing or fabrication company when it comes to establishing the setting up of the size’s upper limit.
- Further, the boards can also flex and lead to broken connections, especially with BGA components. Therefore, opting for a thinner board requires decent support and will need good support from the casing to avoid that. Such a consideration proves pivotal before deciding on an ideal PCB’s thickness.
- Component compatibility. Through-holes prove an essential part of the printed circuit board, and their design often depends on the thickness of the PCB. An excellent example includes the press-fit connectors.
- Weight. The weight of a PCB becomes an instrumental aspect that determines its suitability regarding the intended device and other aspects like shipping requirements and costs. For instance, a thicker board will prove heavier and more costly to ship compared to thinner boards. Conversely, thinner boards become more affordable to ship because of their lighter nature, besides proving suitable to smaller and lighter devices.
Please note that the standard thickness of printed circuit boards differs, but you can rest easy with the 2.4mm PCB, especially regarding power supply. It becomes ideal as it possesses heavy transformers and other high-power components. The same applies to PCBs with higher than 2.4mm thickness.
Crucial Thickness Factors in a 2.4mm Printed Circuit Board
The thickness of the printed circuit board typically implies the overall thickness in terms of millimeters. While this often forms a key consideration aspect for PCBs, other component’s thickness accompanying the PCB thickness often proves pivotal as well. This section will detail a bit of it to help you understand aspects beyond the board’s thickness.
- Standard 2.4mm thickness of the printed circuit board
- As already canvassed, the board’s thickness plays a crucial role in the application of the PCB, its usefulness, and complexity. For a 2.4mm PCB, it might come as a single, double, or multi-layered PCB, with the increased layers increasing the complexity and possibilities of the PCB in handling complex functionalities and high-powered operations. However, with the general trend of manufacturing smaller and lighter equipment and devices globally, your 2.4mm PCB has to factor in this trend to ensure relevance with existing and future weight and size trends.
- The copper thickness of the PCB
- The thickness of the copper layer represents a crucial aspect of a printed circuit board and one that always contributes to the overall PCB thickness. Therefore, it implies that a thicker PCB will have a thicker copper layer or layers while thinner PCBs have thinner copper layers or layers. The thickness of copper often gets designed by consideration of the amount of current to pass through it. Subsequently, it becomes ideal for high current and high-power operations. Additionally, the thickness of copper relies heavily on the intended use and thus something you have to consider before settling on or settling for 2.4mm PCB.
- The trace thickness of the printed circuit board
- A PCB designer often determines the trace thickness of a printed circuit. However, the trace thickness indirectly determines the PCB thickness. It arises because a potential surge or increase in current on the copper traces often causes overheating incidences, which always contributes to the damage of the printed circuit board. Therefore, it becomes essential to design the traces with enough thickness to ensure that the quantity of current that passes through the circuit cannot result in damage. Do you remember how the thickness of PCB determines the application of the PCB in high power and current operations? I believe you can see the correlation here and why trace thickness plays a pivotal role that needs consideration when designing.
You can always specify the thickness of your printed circuit board by taking advantage of the trace-width calculator. Here, you only need to input the specifications and compute to get the average thickness required. Therefore, use aspects like the solder mask and prepreg thickness to have a successful computation.
Final thoughts
The 2.4mm PCB always represents a circuit board thickness on the upper side of the scale. The thickness of the PCB not only allows you to deploy it into high-power and current-transmitting machinery and equipment but also one that proves sturdier and capable of handling complex operations. However, in any case, you cannot figure out if a 2.4mm PCB or the number of layers within it would prove ideal; never hesitate to get help from us.
