Application of Analytical Simulation on Various Characteristics of Hole Quality during Micro-Drilling of Printed Circuit Board

Achievement of good surface quality remains a concern during the micro-drilling of printed circuit board (PCB). Although a great deal of work is reported on the micro-drilling of PCB, information on the effect of drilling parameters like feed rate on different characteristics of hole quality is relatively scarce. It is known that stresses during micro-drilling of PCBs are critical issues. However, their correlation with hole quality is yet to be reported. The current work utilizes finite element analysis (FEA)-based simulation of deformation and stresses to explain various parameters of hole quality such as diameter, delamination factor and burr thickness. Effect of feed rate on these parameters has also been established. Results indicated that stresses play a vital role in influencing the hole quality of PCB. Increase in feed rate resulted in a reduction in hole diameter, whereas delamination factor and mean burr thickness increased with feed rate. The study is, therefore, expected to be of help in the proper selection of feed rate in order to achieve acceptable hole quality after micro-drilling of PCB.