We see many PCB applications in our daily life. Speaker, display, battery, fingerprint sensor and many more components combined into a single Smartphone. And all the components work together. All the wires connected inside our Smartphone finally enter the printed circuit board. Basically, we see PCBs in green color. pcb-togo provide structure and organization for all the components. Wired in the middle of PCB allow each of the components to communicate and work together. We have to study some more to understand what actually is there inside a Printed Circuit Board. Initially, we have to gain knowledge about the elements like microchips, resistors, capacitors, and connectors. They are attached to the PCB. Attaching to the PCB is also called as solder mounted. Printed circuit board, also refer as motherboard with the components mounted to it. Printed circuit board is just simple object, without anything on it.
Metal core printed circuit board
Basically, we can see three classifications of PCB. The PCBs are available in ceramic based core material, FR-series of the core material, and metal core Printed Circuit Board. FR-series of the core material is also known as fire retardant series of the core material. Metal core printed circuit board is popularly known as MCPCB. The metals mostly use for making metal core printed circuit boards are aluminum, steel alloy, and copper.
Each material has its unique specifications and advantages. Aluminum core material has high heat transferring and dissipating capabilities. Aluminum is cheaper as compared to silver and copper. Whereas copper have better specifications compared with aluminum. But, copper is more expensive. Steel contains more stability to the core compared with copper and aluminum. By overall comparisons, we can say that aluminum is more efficient and affordable than copper and silver. So aluminum is used to make most of the Printed Circuit Boards.
Metal core Printed Circuit Boards are also popularly known as metal clad or metal base PCBs. The metal core Printed Circuit Boards are also known as the metal backed printed circuit boards.
Advantages of metal core printed circuit board
The following are the advantages of Metal core Printed Circuit Boards
- The main advantage of metal core Printed Circuit Board is dissipation of heat more efficiently than ceramic and FR-4 type of Printed Circuit Boards.
- Metal core Printed Circuit Boards save the components from overheating and damage.
- Metal core Printed Circuit Boards are used in LED applications because if it’s heat dissipating property.
- The main purpose of metal core is to move the heat away from the system.
- The other advantage of metal core Printed Circuit Boards is greater coefficient of thermal expansion.
- Most materials suffer from thermal expansion and contraction. It is the inherit nature of the materials. Metal core printed with aluminum can overcome thermal expansion and contraction.
- Dimensional stability is one of the important advantages of the metal core Printed circuit board. The size change of the metal core PCB is minimum even at high temperatures, compared with ceramic and FR-4 type of Printed Circuit Boards.
Applications of metal core printed circuit board
The following are the applications of metal core Printed Circuit Boards.
- MCPCBs are used in LED lights
- Metal core PCBs are used in vehicles like cars.
- Metal core PCBs are used in amplifiers
- Audio systems are the applications of Metal core PCB.
- Metal core Printed Circuit Boards are used in printers
- PCBs are used in switching electronic devices.
Classification of metal core PCBs
On the basis of functionality, metal core Printed Circuit Board is further divided into five categories. They are
- Single Layer Metal Core PCB
- Chip On Board Metal Core PCB
- Double Layer Metal Core PCB
- Double Sided Metal Core PCB
- Multi-layer Metal Core PCB
Conclusion:
The metal core Printed Circuit Board is a type of Printed Circuit Boards. The material core is made of metals like aluminum, copper, and steel alloy. But, most of the metal core PCB makers choose aluminum because of its unique specifications and low price. In Metal Core PCB, we can see different categories of PCBs according to their structure and layers. Metalcore Printed Circuit Boards are strong and perform heat dissipation. The only disadvantage is that we have a temperature limit of 140 degrees Celsius when the circuit is in operation.