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The Complete SMT Process and What SMT Process Engineers Do in The Process

The document discusses the surface mount technology (SMT) process used in printed circuit board assembly. It describes the key steps in SMT including material preparation, stencil preparation, solder paste printing, component placement, reflow soldering, cleaning and inspection. SMT engineers play an important role in preparing, implementing, and monitoring the SMT process to help manufacturers improve quality and efficiency while reducing costs. As technology advances, SMT engineers must adapt the process to meet changing market demands.

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368 views

The Complete SMT Process and What SMT Process Engineers Do in The Process

The document discusses the surface mount technology (SMT) process used in printed circuit board assembly. It describes the key steps in SMT including material preparation, stencil preparation, solder paste printing, component placement, reflow soldering, cleaning and inspection. SMT engineers play an important role in preparing, implementing, and monitoring the SMT process to help manufacturers improve quality and efficiency while reducing costs. As technology advances, SMT engineers must adapt the process to meet changing market demands.

Uploaded by

jack
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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RAYMING PCB & ASSEMBLY

The complete SMT Process and what SMT Process Engineers


do in the process
Do you know how different gadgets switch between different modes when you press
certain buttons? Or how you trigger certain functionalities when you touch the screen
of a touch-screen device? Well, the magic behind these functionalities is known
as PCBA or Print Circuit Board Assembly. Modern-day gadgets are not just simple
appliances with wires and a few functionalities. Modern-day gadgets have become
helpers due to their outstanding capabilities and their compactness. PCBA brings
together various electronic components onto a pretty small area; hence they achieve
compactness. The parts, though minute, match or even outdo similar but larger
traditional components. They are thus more productive too. But how does PCBA
achieve this? Well, it achieves this through a process known as an SMT process. But
what does the SMT process entail? And what exactly is SMT?

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Table of Contents

SMT

SMT stands for surface mount tech. It is a new method that manufacturers utilize to
mount electronic components on print circuit boards.

Basically, SMT involves the soldering of SMCs (surface mount components) onto
PCBs via reflow soldering.

SMT Process

Material Examination and Preparation

In this step, the manufacturer prepares the PCB and SMC and checks for flaws in both
of them. The Print Circuit Board mostly has flat gold plated copper, silver, or
tiny-lead pads which have no holes. These pads go by the name solder pads and are
crucial in the SMT Process.

Stencil Preparation

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The Stencil provides a fixed solder paste printing position. The design of the Stencil
perfectly matches the solder pad’s positions on the PCB. In doing so, it makes
mounting pretty easy to accomplish.

Solder Paste Printing

The Solder Paste in these steps is a mixture of:

 Tin
 Flux

The solder paste attaches surface mount components onto solder pads according to
specifications. Then, a stencil utilizing a squeegee at an angle of 450 to 600 applies the
solder paste onto the PCB board.

SMC Placement

Now it is time to mount electrical components onto the PCB. Manufacturers utilize
a pick and place machine for this process. The machine accurately mounts SMCs onto
the board accordingly. Once the mounting process is over, the PCB moves on to the
reflow soldering process.

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Reflow Soldering

 Soldering oven – When the surface mounting process is over, the PCB enters
a reflow soldering oven.
 Preheat zone – The very first zone inside the reflow oven is the preheat zone.
In this zone, the board’s temperature plus that of all the components attached
to it raises gradually and simultaneously. The rate of temperature ramp-up in
this zone is about 10C to 20C per second up until it hits 1400C to 1600C.
 The soak zone – The PCB remains in this zone for about 90 seconds on
temperatures ranging between 1400C to 1600C
 Reflow zone – The PCB then goes inside a section that has a temperature
ramp-up of 10C to 20C per second. The temperature gradually goes up till it
hits a temperature range of 2100C to 2300C. Once the reflow zone hits this
high temperatures, the tin found inside soldering pastes starts to melt. The
molten solder binds the SMC’s leads onto the PCB’s pads. The molten solder’s
surface tension helps keep the SMCs in place.
 The cooling Zone – a zone that makes sure the solder paste freezes as it exits
the heating zone. By passing through this zone, the print circuit board avoids
any joint defects.

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In case the PCB is double side you might have to repeat this entire process using glue
or solder paste to hold the SMCs in place.

Cleaning and Inspection

The PCB cleaning process after soldering is pretty essential. Once the cleaning
process is over, the operators check for flaws in the PCB. If any defect is found, then
they have to repair or rework the defect before storing it.

Standard machines that come in handy during this entire process include:

 Automated Optical Inspection


 Magnifying Lens
 Flying probe tester
 X-Ray Machine

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SMT Process Engineers, what do they actually do?

SMT Process engineers come in handy when:

 A confusing issue arises during the PCB assembly process


 The rejection rate declines miraculously or
 PCB assembly products drop in terms of manufacturing efficiency and quality

SMT process engineers have the following responsibilities:

 They deal with abnormalities that occur during the PCB assembly process
 The SMT assembly process plus how to efficiently upgrade it
 They decrease the rejection rate and improve the pass rate
 Testifying and implementing unique strategies for manufacturing purposes
 Setting the process parameters
 They evaluate new methods and new components

Briefly put, we can say that an SMT process engineer prepares, implements, and then
monitors the entire SMT process.

Since technology advances, so does the responsibilities of SMT process engineers.


However, any additional role has to align with a particular tech advancement to cope
with the increasing market demand.

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Some Non-academic Skills that you require to become

an SMT Process Engineer

Firstly, you should have the ability to predict and define possible results that might
occur due to process changes. Immediately a change occurs in the SMT process. You
should have enough sensitivity to accurately predict the corresponding results. Using
this predictions, manufacturers can make a timely changes to affect other processes
positively.

Secondly, you should know every tool that helps execute the SMT assembly process.
Competition in the electronic market as per the 21st century is pretty tough. Clients
now require devices of high quality and at an affordable price. The only companies
that can afford this feat at those that utilize efficient tools. Therefore, SMT process
engineers should have proper knowledge of SMT process tools, how they work, and
any advances of the same. SMT process engineers should greatly embrace
development.

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Significance of SMT process Engineers

 The SMT process features so many elements such as:


 Component package
 Technical requirements
 Materials
 Equipment et cetera

Hence there should be someone who can easily understand, explain and also monitor
the entire process.

 Companies worldwide are under constant pressure to improve on quality to


match higher quality products. The competition is pretty intense, and those
who lose ultimately go under. Also, when it comes to optimizing the SMT
process, manufacturers highly depend upon SMT engineers. They help them
produce electronic gadgets in bulk using less money, improving their profit
margin.

Conclusion

The need for SMT assembly grows every day. Clients want gadgets that are:

 Compact

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 Fast
 Efficient
 Cost friendly

With SMT processes, manufacturers can achieve this feat. However, due to
technological advancements, this needs gradually change. For example, clients now
want a faster component with better battery life. Hence we have SMT engineers.
These engineers help manufacturers cope with the current market. They help them
produce quality each time using minimum resources. Therefore the next time you see
a company launch a device update that might be thanks to a certain SMT process
engineer.

Related Posts:

1. A Complete Guide to PCB Encapsulation

2. What is Macropad PCB? A Complete Review

3. A Complete Guide on How to Solder Electronics

4. A Complete Guide on PCB Quick Turn : What You Must Know

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