PCBA or PCB assembly is the manufacturing process of an assembled PCB where the required electronic components are mounted on the PCB.
The PCBA process consists of several automated and manual steps. There are three basic PCB assembly technologies which include some fast PCB assembly processes. They are:
Through-Hole Technology (THT) Assembly Process
Through-Hole Technology (THT) is a process in which component leads are placed into the drilled holes of the bare PCB and the ends are soldered to the pads on the opposite side. This process is called through-hole assembly.
Through-Hole Technology (THT) Assembly Process involves three major steps.
Step 1: Component placement
Step 2: Inspection and Rectification
STEP 3: Wave Soldering
Surface Mount Technology (SMT) Assembly Process
In this method, the components are directly placed on the surface of the PCBs with solder paste. Surface-mount devices (SMDs) are made this way.
This involves three steps.
Step 1: Solder Paste Printing
Step 2: Components Mounting
Step 3: Reflow Soldering
Mixed Technology
Electronic products need more complicated, integrated and smaller size PCB boards with recent developments. So these boards need both SMD and through-hole components to perform complex tasks.
PCBA with the application of mixed technologies should be carried out in the following situations:
Single Side Mixed Assembly:
It involves the following processes in the given order:
One Side SMT and One Side THT:
It involves the following processes in the given order:
Double Side Mixed Assembly:
In this case, there are two alternatives:
Conclusion:
PCBs are an integral part of the electronics we use in our daily lives. Today the use of PCB is widespread. They can be single-sided, double-sided or multilayered. It’s used in medical devices, automotive components, aerospace components and so on.