PCBA Testing
Testing methods used in the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) process include AXI, ICT, Smoke Testing, Black Box Testing, and debugging. The gadget is powered by functional testing (FCT), which verifies predicted operations. Testing can assist significantly improve quality and safety, enhance yield and cut costs, and detect major faults early on. One of the most effective and efficient tools for ensuring that a board can be used in the real world is PCB functional testing, although there are numerous more testing techniques a manufacturer might use. It might be challenging to choose the optimal testing technique for your needs and budget because each method has benefits and drawbacks. It enables companies and pcb manufacturers to save time and money.
We’ll go over the most popular PCBA testing techniques.
- Visual Inspection
Visual inspection is the process of manually detecting solder flaws and other visual flaws such component alignment, missing components, and board stains using a magnification or the technician’s own eyes. The easiest and most fundamental inspection technique is this one.
- In-circuit testing (ict)
Currently, PCBA ICT is the most reliable and well-liked PCBA testing method of larger batches and more developed goods. A type of automated testing, its fault coverage is typically in the upper 90% range. These checks can look for shorts and open circuits that may be caused by missing components, soldering errors, or improperly oriented diodes or transistors.
- Automated x-ray inspection（axi）
By using x-rays, AXI testing technique is distinctive. In order to create 2D or even 3D photographs of the solder joints, X-rays must pass through the PCB fabrication and the component bodies. This makes it perfect for concealed joints found on bottom pads and Ball Grid Arrays (BGA). Solder voids can also be found with AXI inspection, which many other optical inspection techniques cannot.
- Burn-in testing
Before the boards are put into use, you may examine the performance and identify any hidden flaws thanks to the burn-in testings high effectiveness and accuracy. To find early failures and evaluate load capacity, boards are put through burn-in testing under conditions that are worse than the rated operating parameters. By doing this, premature problems in the field are prevented.