When designing a circuit board, it is sometimes necessary to balance rigidity and flexibility to meet functional goals. For example, the plate may have complex mounting requirements; such as flexing to minimize the space required by the pacemaker. While these boards have the advantage of increased flexibility compared to the more common rigid PCB construction, there are also disadvantages. A good understanding of the pros and cons will help us determine when to use this technique. Then we look at how to optimize rigid-flex stackup designs.

Rigid-Flex Laminate PCBs: Pros and Cons

Rigid-flex is one of three common classifications of PCBs. The other two are rigid (most boards are rigid) and are flexed, sometimes called fully flexed.

PCB Type:

     a. Rigid - standard PCB stack-up construction type.

     b. Flexible - fully bendable boards, typically used in vibrating environments or in boards that require flexible mounting.

     c. Rigid-Flexible-Partly rigid and partly flexible structures.

All of the board types listed above can be single-layer or multi-layer, where signal traces exist on more than one layer. For all multilayer boards, you should use good PCB stack-up skills. However, in order to choose the best stacking type for your board, you need to understand its main advantages and disadvantages. For rigid-flex laminates, these are listed below.

As shown above, there are distinct advantages and disadvantages when choosing a rigid-flex stack design. However, for some applications, as described below, the advantages make this technology well worth it.

Application of Rigid-Flex Circuit Board

Rigid PCBs dominate the PCB market. However, its use is growing based on the many benefits of rigid-flex technology. This growth is expected to continue as more industries adopt rigid-flex boards in their applications. Some of the most notable are shown below.

Rigid and flexible applications in various industries

Consumer Appliances:

  Washing system

  Oven

  Solar system

Telecommunications:

  Wireless communication

   Routers and servers

   Communication satellite

Medical Equipment:

  Pacemaker

  Video equipment

  Drug delivery system

Automobile industry：

  Control System

  Air conditioner

  Navigation system

Industry

  Automated system

  Test equipment

  Monitoring system

Aerospace

  Sensor

  Communication technology

  Control system

Military

  Communication Technology

  Guidance system

  Tracking system

As shown above, rigid-flex boards are widely used in many industries. Even with this wide range of uses, there are some commonalities that can help you optimize your rigid-flex stackup designs.

How to Optimize Rigid-Flex Stackup Designs

Although increasingly common, rigid-flex laminates are a special design. To create the best possible circuit board, you need to incorporate manufacturing principles into your design. To effectively and efficiently combine your contract manufacturer (CM) DFM and DFA, you need the best PCB design tools.

As shown above, one advanced tool that is particularly useful in designing rigid-flex stack-ups is 3D visibility and analysis. This feature allows the board to be evaluated from various angles and in various bending states. Integration with other functions; such as trace layout and signal analysis, enables accurate design decisions affecting impedance calculations and signal integrity