Pros and Cons of Surface Mount Technology (SMT)
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Surface mount technology has many advantages and disadvantages in terms of design, manufacturing cost, PCB assembly and reliability.
Here I will discuss Surface Mount Technology ( SMT ).
Although surface mount technology.offers some design-related benefits or advantages such as smaller and flexible PCBs, lighter weight, noise, shock and vibration, a major disadvantage is that not all electronic components can be used as SMD. Let's discuss and understand one by one.
Smaller, thinner PCBs
:
SMD components
are 60-80% smaller than through-hole counterparts.
These components also weigh significantly less.
Therefore, they occupy less space on SMT PCBs
making them smaller and slimmer.
PCB Flexibility
Since SMD components are directly mounted or soldered to the surface of the board, surface mount technology offers great flexibility inPCB materials
and designs.
Flex PCB
and
Rigid Flex PCB
are only possible with SMT.
Reduced cardboard and material costs
: SMT PCBs are smaller in size and do not require any plated through-holes.
There are also many SMD components that cost less, which are smaller electronic components
.
This helps to reduce the cost of SMT
PCB manufacturing
.
Because surface mount components are smaller and thinner, costs are reduced in handling, packaging and shipping.
Automate Simplified Production
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: Through-hole electronic components have leads that need to be manually inserted into plated through-holes.
These leads need to be bent, shaped and cut.
This is not the case for SMD components.
Using automatic SMT picking machines
, they can be placed on the board automatically.
This reduces processing and production costs.
High signal transmission and high frequency
:
SMT PCB components
can mainly support high-density
double-sided PCB
and
multi-layer pcb
.
Due to the low latency, these boards are capable of high-speed signal transmission.
Additionally, since SMD components have no or short leads, radio frequency interference is reduced.
Also SMT
pcb assembly
has stronger anti-vibration ability and no noise.
The old saying bigger is better just isnt accurate in the world of electronics. This is especially true when it comes to surface-mount technology (SMT.) SMT places components directly onto the surface of a printed circuit board in order to create a circuit. It has become a preferred method of creating circuits in the electronics industry. Both surface mount technology and through-hole can be used on the same PCB. However, in many cases, SMT versions of through-hole PCB designs can be produced. Surface mount technology can make a big impact on design and development. Here are some of the advantages of using SMT in your electronic manufacturing project:
If you are dealing with a small PCB board, placing your components with surface-mount technology can keep the board small. SMT components are smaller than those used in through-hole because it has either smaller leads or no leads at all. Because of this it takes up less than half of the space a through-hole mount would take. It will also lead to a decrease in weight of the PCB. An SMT component often weighs just one-tenth of its through-hole equivalent.
That small size leads to an important advantage when using SMT in manufacturing. Once set, surface-mount technology typically requires lower production costs than through-hole placement. The size of the board is reduced, the number of drilled holes is reduced, and routing of traces is reduced. That leads to reduced material handling costs and a faster manufacturing process which, in turn, brings down the cost of the whole project.
You are able to pack more on your PCB using SMT. Because there are no holes, you can add more components per unit of area. You can also add more connections per component. And, because holes do not block routing space on inner or back-side layers, components can be placed on both sides of the circuit board. That can sometimes reduce the need for multi-layer boards.
Surface-mount technology is a much more streamlined manufacturing process compared to through-hole. Time is saved because components are applied using a solder paste instead of drilling holes in the PCB. The work that takes hours placing components of a through-hold board can take just five minutes with SMT.
Having in-house engineering for your testing and prototyping of SMT can help during the design phase. They are able to test on the spot and/or make corrections, test new power sources, etc. You will avoid communication breakdowns that often occur when you are working with a new product team.
If you are considering surface-mount technology services for your next PCB project, turn to Levison Enterprises. Our expert team will help you determine if SMT is the appropriate method. We specialize in electronic product development and manufacturing. Let Levison work for you. Contact us today for questions on surface-mount technology.
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