Printed Circuit Board Design is Intelligent Design

Most electrical appliance and electronic devices operate because of printed circuit boards. Basically, the boards serve as conductors, allowing electrical currents to get to where they need to go, and carry out their function. If designed properly, devices work as planned. If designed poorly, devices operate poorly.

Printed Circuit Board Design Software
It would be difficult to discuss printed circuit board design without discussing the software that makes it possible. Electrical engineers use the design software to map out and test a circuit before it finds its way to a circuit board. CAD programs, amazing wonders themselves, offer a complete range of design abilities. With the design software alone, designers can add and remove circuit components, or change resistance and voltage along certain paths. Working models are created long before a design is every etched into a circuit board.

Intelligent Design
PCB software only has one purpose: to create efficient and intelligent circuitry. To design a board takes knowledge, the kind that engineers and highly trained technicians possess. Once the design is completed, the board should perform all its desired functions. The software that engineers use is capable of pointing out design flaws before a board is ever assembled. The software, added to the designer’s imagination and capabilities, is what makes the whole process work. Printed circuit board design can be achieved with a number of materials. However, those materials will vary depending on the board’s intended use.

Etching Methods
Grooves and indentations are pressed, or etched, into the board’s surface. Silk-screening and photographic printing are among the most common etching methods. Photoengraving utilizes a chemical process that removes unwanted copper. Etching, on the other hand, generally uses ammonium persulfate or acid to remove unwanted layers of copper. Silk screening methods rely on the use of inks that are etch-resistant. The copper’s underlying foil is protected and only unwanted copper is removed. Milling can be an additional method. In this method, a special machine removes excess copper.

There is a lot that goes into the process of making circuit boards. It takes professionals working together at every level to produce a dependable, error-free product.