Numerical Simulation of Solder Paste Printing on Through-Hole Components

Abstract

The increased demand for smaller and more reliable electronic devices, pressures companies to tune and innovate the production methodologies, always aiming to decrease the production time while maintaining the products’ quality. In the manufacturing of a Printed Circuit Board - PCB, there are two main types of electronic components, namely, Surface-Mount-Devices and Through-Hole components. Both connections are achieved through soldering, an essential manufacturing process that greatly affects the quality of the final product, and may compromise the lifetime of the PCB. While SMD components are commonly soldered by a reflow process, TH components are generally soldered by a wave soldering process. However, a PCB is generally composed of both types of components. Since both processes are too different in nature, the manufacturing of the board requires two separated mounting lines which represent increased costs and production time. Taking this into account, the present study investigates the usage of the reflow solder printing to deposit the solder paste on through-hole apertures both experimentally and numerically. In general, the results were similar showing a tendency for the solder paste to deposit on the aperture’s right side. Nevertheless, the numerical model predicts a filling area greater (by 22%) than that verified experimentally.