AEC-Q200-005-REV (A) defines the standard for verifying the bond strength of surface mount components on finished printed circuit boards (PCBs) to understand their ability to withstand bending, flexing, and pulling forces. Electronics assembly manufacturers for automotive OEMs are interested in learning and characterizing bond strength for adhesives that are used to mount and hold the surface mount components and their leads in place on a PCB.
THE CHALLENGE
The standard requires that the finished PCB be held in position upside down on the lower anvils, and for a force to be applied on the target location using an upper anvil. This bending force needs to be applied for 60 seconds (+5 seconds) until a bending deflection of at least 2 mm is achieved. Once the test is completed, a thorough visual inspection must be performed on the flexed component.
Our Solution
Instron® single column and dual column table model systems are designed to perform this 3 point bend testing application. The 2810-400 series bend fixtures are available in various radii sizes for the upper and lower anvils, allowing users to choose the proper bend fixture and span based on the dimensions of the PCB. Additionally, micro 3 point and 4 point bend fixtures are available for bend testing individual components and PCBs of smaller dimensions. Bluehill® Universal software is used to create test methods for bend testing as per the AEC Q200-005 (A) standards. For visual inspection, Instron offers the TestCam Video Recording and Playback module, which provides users with a video recording of how the test was conducted and how the specimen failed for post-test evaluation.