High temperature resistant printed circuit board

What happens if a PCB overheats?

There are many reasons for PCB overheating. The MCU development engineer explained that under normal circumstances, if design defects, failure to select suitable parts and materials, misplaced components and poor heat dissipation may cause heat on the printed circuit board (PCB) excessive.
In integrated circuits, excessively high temperatures can negatively affect functions, components, and the circuit board itself. The effect of high temperature is negligible in many applications, but in high-performance designs, the effect can be significant.
Therefore, proper heat management is an important step in electrical engineering. To manage heat well, this involves all aspects from the component level to the physical board system and operating environment. Below, the microcontroller development engineer will further introduce some of the main reasons for the overheating of the circuit board.
1. Components such as Electronic Resistor and Capacitor are not placed correctly
If there is no proper airflow to dissipate heat, the PCB will accumulate most of the heat, resulting in a gradual increase in temperature, resulting in degradation or damage to the circuit performance. In addition, it should be noted that sensitive components cannot be placed near components that emit a lot of heat.
2. Environment and external thermal factors
When the PCB is used in an extreme temperature environment, in the design process, if the temperature conditions in the target environment are not considered, the electronic components may be subjected to excessive pressure.
3. Wrong selection of parts and materials
In the process of electronic component material selection, failure to follow the recommended usage guidelines may cause heat dissipation problems. When selecting materials for electronic components, it is important to review detailed data and consider all relevant information related to power consumption, thermal resistance, temperature limits, and cooling technology.
Another important issue is the choice of PCB dielectric materials. The printed circuit board itself must be able to withstand the worst-case thermal conditions.
Fourth, the defects of PCB design and cheap custom pcb fabrication
Poor layout and cheap pcb manufacturing processes can cause PCB thermal problems. Improper soldering may hinder heat dissipation, and insufficient trace width or copper area will cause temperature rise.
To prevent heat dissipation problems, designers must reduce heat dissipation and use other cooling techniques when natural cooling is insufficient. Thermal optimization design requires attention to component specifications, PCB layout, PCB dielectric materials and environmental conditions.