CORRELATION OF ANALYTICAL AND EXPERIMENTAL APPROACHES TO DETERMINE THERMALLY-INDUCED PWB WARPAGE

Thermomechanical design effects in the printed wiring board (PWB) desi gn process are becoming increasingly important due to ever-stringent e lectronic product requirements. In the past few years, the finite elem ent method (FEM) has become a vital and effective design vehicle to ma ny facets of the PWB design process. Despite its increasing popularity in PWB design, the FEM has seldom been validated for its appropriaten ess and accuracy in modeling PWB thermomechanical behavior. We have co nducted a research project in developing advanced FEM-oriented capabil ities to simulate thermally induced PWB warpage. The FE analysis resul ts are validated by correlating them with measurements obtained from a separate experimental approach using the shadow Moire method.