2021 22nd International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems (EuroSimE)

| 978-1-6654-1373-2/20/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/EuroSimE52062.2021.9410852

Characterization of the mechanical behavior of a Printed Circuit Board (PCB)

A. Atintoha,b, W. Kpobiea, N. Bonfohb, M. Fendlera, P. Lipinskib
a
Plateforme Mécatronique pour l’Amélioration des Produits et des Procédés (MAPP), CEA Tech Grand Est, 5 rue
Marconi, 57070 Metz, France
b
Laboratoire d’Etude des Microstructures et de Mécanique des Matériaux (LEM3), UMR CNRS 7239 - Université de
Lorraine, CNRS, Arts et Métiers Paris Tech, 7 Rue Félix Savart, 57073 Metz, France

Abstract sometimes not relevant for the overall range of operating

The present study deals with a characterization of the temperatures. Moreover, classical experiments [2] such as
anisotropic mechanical behavior of Printed Circuit Board vibration tests [3] provide only the global response of the
(PCB) through an inverse method combining experiments structure. These tests do not give access to local
and numerical simulations. The considered PCB is a woven mechanical fields inside the PCB components [4]. To
laminate composite that consists of glass fiber reinforced overcome this lack of material data, numerical simulations
epoxy matrix (FR4) and copper traces. Prior to numerical [4] combined with an inverse method appear as an
simulations, some simple mechanical tests were conducted alternative approach.
in order to characterize the mechanical behavior of layers In the present study, some properties of copper and FR4
of FR4 and the corresponding PCB. Then, through a materials remain unknown. Copper is assumed to behave
multiscale homogenization approach, unknown elastic as an isotropic elastic material [5] while FR4 is elastic
properties of the PCB have been estimated by comparison quasi-isotropic or orthotropic matter [4, 6]. Furthermore,
with experimental results. This numerical homogenization properties of the latter depend on the yarn type and the
was performed by the means of the Mechanics of Structure woven fabric. Yarn type refers to the volume fraction of
Genome (MSG) methodology. The main advantage of this fibers and the epoxy grade while the woven fabric deals
MSG-based model is its ability to simultaneously estimate with the standard used to create the structure.
all the independent components of the tensor of elastic
constants through only one computation, with a relatively
low CPU time.
1. Introduction
Widely used in electronics, a printed circuit board
(PCB) is a multilayer structure that supports components
and interconnects them by copper wiring. PCB is
composed of copper and woven composite layers as a core.
In some configurations, if necessary, additional copper
layers are linked to the core by prepreg layers. The woven
composite is an epoxy and glass fiber composite named
FR4. FR4 and polymerized prepreg are generally assumed
to exhibit similar thermomechanical properties [1].

FIGURE 2 – Woven glass fibers fabric [7]

Face to so many variables, an accurate description of

FIGURE 1 – A four layer PCB (the number correspond
to the number of copper layers).
PCB may be subjected to different kinds of
thermomechanical loads such as transient temperature
gradients, forced vibrations, involving fatigue that can lead
to its failure. For the analysis of the reliability of PCB
structure, it is necessary to specify its thermomechanical
properties and internal architecture. However, most of
available material's datasheets are incomplete and
the internal structure and material properties is necessary
for a relevant numerical simulation of the mechanical
response of the PCB.
Instead of using incomplete data of literature,
experimental tests, and/or numerical simulations,
analytical or semi-analytical methods were performed.
Tensile tests were conducted [6] to obtain in-plane elastic
properties of FR4 such as Young’s moduli (‫ܧ‬௫ , ‫ܧ‬௬ ) and
Poisson’s ratio (ߥ௫௬ ). Due to the small thickness of the
woven composite alternative methods are often used to
deduce out-of-plane properties.
Arabi et al. [3] suggested a method based on Voigt and
Reuss approximations to determine Young’s modulus (‫ܧ‬௭ ).
Fuchs et al. [6] also proposed finite elements methods for
PCB for this purpose. Within this investigation, yarn
sections were assumed elliptic and Mori-Tanaka
homogenization model was used to obtain its effective
properties. Tao et al. [4] developed a method based on

978-1-6654-1373-2/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE

2021 22nd International Conference on Thermal, Mechanical and Multi-Physics Simulation and Experiments in Microelectronics and Microsystems (EuroSimE)

Authorized licensed use limited to: Indian Institute of Technology (Ropar). Downloaded on September 21,2021 at 18:27:52 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
 mechanics of structure genome (MSG) technique to obtain often pointed out, this volume fraction differs from warp to
the local and global properties of FR4 and PCB. Initially weft direction.Yarn can be considered as unidirectional
promoted by Liu et al. [8], MSG is a semi-analytical composite [12]. Fiber distribution as revealed by
method based on a structure of genome (SG). In the jargon microscopic observations seems random. Yarn’s elastic
of MSG, the SG is the smallest mathematical building behavior can therefore be considered as transverse
block of a structure and serves as the analysis domain isotropic. Glass fiber is an E-glass with higher strength and
within MSG.MSG is able to provide the complete set of electrical resistivity [15] that is mostly used in electronics.
properties of a material through numerical simulations. We have adopted the same elastic properties of glass fiber
Apart from these methods, some others approaches like as Kinvi et al. [12] and epoxy properties issued from Girard
hybrid modeling of woven composites were used [9]. et al. [10]. Properties used to model yarn were initially set
However, these models are useful for well defined to the values summarized in Table 1
microstructure and phases properties. Recently, Girard et
al. [10] suggested an inverse method based on Young’s modulus ‫ܧ‬௙ (GPa) 73
Representative volume element (RVE) and an optimization Glass Poisson’s ratio ߥ௙ 0.167
technique to predict the out-of-plane Young modulus of Fiber Volume fraction (Warp) 0.71
woven composite. Two main limitations of this RVE-based
Volume fraction (Weft) 0.69
approach have been reminded by Rouf et al. [11] and Tao
et al. [4]. The first one is related to the computational cost Matrix Young’s modulus ‫ܧ‬௠ (GPa) 4.73
and the modeling effort. The difficulty to apply the correct (Epoxy) Poisson’s ratio ߥ௠ 0.167
periodic boundary conditions is the second one. TABLE 1 – Set of initial properties for yarn
To deal with these issues, in the present study we
propose an alternative inverse approach based on MSG For the MSG method, two 2D SG were considered for
method and a two step homogenization to fully the yarn: hexagonal SG with two [8] and eight fibers [12].,
characterize the elastic behavior of both FR4 and PCB respectively.
structures.
The theory of MSG and its application to woven
composite modeling have been discussed in Liu et al. [8].
2. Micro homogenization (yarn)
Effective elastic properties of the composite yarns were
computed as the first step of a multiscale approach based
on the Mechanics of Structure Genome (see [8] and the
references cited therein [5, 6, 12, 13]). At the microscopic
scale, some optical observations were conducted to
describe the topological and morphological properties of
yarns: volume fraction of fibers, morphology, and section
of fibers and yarn. The section of the yarn was assumed
elliptic as in Liu et al. [14].

FIGURE 4 – Yarn 2D SG model. a) 8-fiber hexagonal

SG b) 2-fiber hexagonal SG

The geometry of the SG and the MSG computing were

FIGURE 3 – Microscopic observation of yarns
Glass fiber diameter was measured in several points
(Fig. 3), also for the section. Instead of using the whole
section, since the number of fibers was high, several
measures in different random areas were performed (Fig
3). The mean fiber diameter and volume fraction of glass
fibers were estimated for both warp and weft directions. As
performed by CmbsFE software (see Kinvi et al. [12]).
Mesh were created using a 3D finite element mesh
generator Gmsh. Triangular mesh elements were
considered.
Results in terms of elastic properties of yarns, as
predicted by both 2-fiber and 8-fiber hexagonal SG, were
analyzed in warp and weft directions. 2-fiber Hexagonal
SG provides the same result as 8-fiber with the CPU time
nearly six times smaller. These predicted sets of yarn
properties were then implemented for a second step of the
homogenization procedure.

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 Elastic 2-fiber 8-fiber 2-fiber 8-fiber A cross-sectional view along with the three main
Properties warp warp weft weft directions is presented. ‫ ݓ‬refers to the width, ݄ to the
‫ܧ‬௫ (GPa) 18.8 18.8 17.6 17.6 height, and ܵ‫ ݌‬the spacing of yarn.
‫ܧ‬௬ (GPa) 53.2 53.2 51.8 51.8
To obtain a second set of values and validate
‫ܧ‬௭ (GPa) 18.8 18.8 17.6 17.6
microtomographic results, we have used the optical
‫ܩ‬௬௭ (GPa) 8.8 8.8 8.26 8.26 microscope as in the first step of homogenization.
‫ܩ‬௫௭ (GPa) 7.7 7.7 7.27 7.27
‫ܩ‬௫௬ (GPa) 8.8 8.8 8.3 8.3
ߥ௬௭ 0.209 0.209 0.208 0.208
ߥ௫௭ 0.213 0.213 0.214 0.214
ߥ௫௬ 0.209 0.209 0.208 0.208
Number of
27527 109725 27121 108017
elements
Cpu Time
20.4 113.2 19.4 112.1
(s)
TABLE 2 – Comparison between 2-fiber and 8-fiber
yarn effective elastic properties (64 Go of RAM with
Intel(R) Xeon(R) CPU E5-2640 v4 processor). FIGURE 6 – Observation of the thickness of
macrostructure with Zeiss microscope.
3. Macro-homogenization
This second step aims to predict effective properties of The mean dimensions obtained by optical microscope
FR4. At the mesoscopic scale, the realistic topological and and microtomography are gathered in Table 3.
morphological textures of the FR4 were accounted through
Texgen software. ‫(ݓ‬μm) ݄(μm) ܵ‫(݌‬μm)
First, we have estimated the values of yarn width, Micro- Warp 648.3 97 667.2
height and spacing thanks to some observations on X-ray tomography
microtomograph «EasyTom Nano». Spacing refers to yarn observations Weft 607 94.5 932.7
periodicity. Test parameters were 60 kV as tension and 2.7
μm as resolution. Optical Warp 654 103.6 683.2
microscope
ZEISS Weft 637 99.45 802.4

TABLE 3 – Comparison of warp and weft dimensions.

Laminate composite consists of eight plies. The warp

and weft cross-sections were assumed different.
Both observation techniques provide similar results.
For spacing values, microtomography results were used
while for the other dimensions, optical ones prevailed since
yarn can be well observed by this technique.
A 3D woven structure as schematized by Figure 6 was
then designed by Texgen. Due to the limitation of Texgen
graphical interface to compute different cross-sectional
a) warp and weft dimensions, we used a Python script [4].

FIGURE 6 – SG of macrostructure (FR4)

b)
The SG is assumed periodic in both ‫ ݔ‬and ‫ ݕ‬directions.
FIGURE 5 - X-ray microtomography observations of
We have used a voxel mesh of 60×60×50 dimensions, and
the FR4 microstructure. a) refer to weft observation and b)
to warp one’s.

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 the mesh quality was optimized in light of converged value A good agreement between experimental and
of ‫ܧ‬௭ . simulation results is noticed. All relative errors are less
Effective properties of FR4 were then obtained with the than 4%.
same MSG method as in micro-homogenization. Due to the A model of four-layer PCB was created on Abaqus and
difference between experimental data and numerical then tensile and shear tests were simulated. All remaining
results as provided by the first simulation, an optimization properties were then estimated directly without any
through an inverse method was implemented. First, a additional step, since all the properties of FR4 were
database of macroscopic properties was created. Then, a previously converged. The copper layer was assumed
Python were executed. A cost function was considered as: isotropically elastic: ‫ ܧ‬ൌ ͳͳͲGPa and ߥ ൌ ͲǤ͵Ͷ.
೐ೣ೛ ଶ ೐ೣ೛ ೞ೔೘ ଶ
ாೣ ିாೣೞ೔೘ ா೤ ିா೤
݂௖௢௦௧ ൌ ൬ ೐ೣ೛ ൰ ൅൬ ೐ೣ೛ ൰ ൅
ாೣ ா೤
೐ೣ೛ ೞ೔೘ ଶ
ఔೣ೤ ିఔೣ೤ Elastic PCB
൬ ೐ೣ೛ ൰ (1) properties Experience Simulation Error (%)
ఔೣ೤
where « exp » refers to experimental values and « sim » ‫ܧ‬௫ (GPa) ʹͺǤͳ േ଴Ǥଷସ
଴Ǥଵ଻ 31.7 12.8
to those obtained by simulation. Experimental values are
issued from some mechanical tests on both PCB and FR4 ‫ܧ‬௬ (GPa) ʹͷǤʹ േ଴Ǥସ଻
଴Ǥ଻଼ 31.9 26.4
samples. ‫ܧ‬௭ (GPa) 19.1
This cost function was minimized by the Python script
and the final set of macroscopic properties values under ‫ܩ‬௬௭ (GPa) 3.2
ͳͲିଶ were choosed. After this procedure, all the properties
‫ܩ‬௫௭ (GPa) 3.2
of FR4 were identified.
The final Yarn properties are presented in the table 4. ‫ܩ‬௫௬ (GPa) 5.3

Elastic Properties ߥ௬௭ 0.21

‫ܧ‬௫ (GPa) 29.5 ߥ௫௭ 0.21
‫ܧ‬௬ (GPa) 61.4
ߥ௫௬ ͲǤʹ͸ േ଴Ǥ଴ହ
଴Ǥ଴ଶ 0.24 6.3
‫ܧ‬௭ (GPa) 29.5
‫ܩ‬௬௭ (GPa) 13.6 ‫ܧ‬௙௟ (GPa) ͵ͳǤ͵ േଵǤ଻ଶ
଴Ǥଽ଼ 43.9 40.3
‫ܩ‬௫௭ (GPa) 12.2
‫ܩ‬௫௬ (GPa) 13.6 TABLE 6 – Comparison of experimental and numerical
ߥ௬௭ 0.22 elastic properties of PCB
ߥ௫௭ 0.21
An increase of error can be observed for all parameters
ߥ௫௬ 0.22
except for νxy compared to FR4 simulation results.
TABLE 4 – Yarn effective properties values after This can came from the differences between prepreg
optimization and FR4 layers since their properties were supposed to be
the same. Also, because of the multiple layers of PCB, the
Comparison between experimental data and converged effect of incertainty was more obvious.
numerical results is summarized in Table 5. Since the woven composite is the most difficult to
FR4 reproduce in a multilayer model, there is no real need to
Elastic
properties validate PCB properties since that has already been the
Experience Simulation Error (%)
case for FR4.
‫ܧ‬௫ (GPa) ʹ͸ା଴Ǥ଻
ି଴Ǥସ 25.2 3.0 Our method provides results in agreement with
‫ܧ‬௬ (GPa) 23.3 ±0.5 24.1 3.6 experimental data.. MSG advantages have been observed
as mentioned in previous studies [4, 7]. This was the case
‫ܧ‬௭ (GPa) 18.7 for the modeling effort, the time used and the boundary
conditions applied.
‫ܩ‬௬௭ (GPa) 7.93
Furthermore, MSG users community is quite active so
‫ܩ‬௫௭ (GPa) 7.95 one can found many block of code or software like
Texgen4C [4, 7] which can reduce the time used in
‫ܩ‬௫௬ (GPa) 9.6 developing required code blocks.
ߥ௬௭ 0.14 4. Conclusions
Due to the lack of accurate data of printed circuit board
ߥ௫௭ 0.14
mechanical properties, several methods have been
ߥ௫௬ ͲǤʹͳା଴Ǥସ
ି଴Ǥଵ 0.21 0.0 proposed to overcome this difficultiy. These methods are
in most of the cases direct methods and could not be used
‫ܧ‬௙௟ (GPa) ʹ͵Ǥͻା଴Ǥସ
ି଴Ǥଶ 24.4 2.1 in the case of unknown PCB. Inverse methods found in
literature focusing on woven composite (FR4) are RVE
TABLE 5 – Comparison of elastic properties of FR4 based approaches.
obtained from both experimental and simulation.

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 To reduce modeling effort, periodic boundary
conditions and time-consuming issues on RVE based
inverse methods of FR4, a novel method founded on MSG
has been developed. First, the microstructure of FR4 has
been inspected using optical and microtomography
observations. Then, the properties of the yarn have been
optimized using the software CmbsFE. After that, a macro-
homogenization on the woven composite has been
perfomed using the same software with data obtained in the
first homogeneization step. An optimization method
including a Python script has been developed. Finally, the
properties of the PCB using appropriate simulations with
Abaqus were determined.
The results show good agrements between
experimental and numerical values. The errors were due to
incertainty of some experimental mesures and the
assumptions used. The expected advantages of MSG have
been confirmed as time and modeling effort reduction and
the use of aperiodic boundary condition along z-direction.
The method can still be improved. Currently, a single
interface for all the homogeneization steps involved are
under developement.
The obtained properties of different constitutive layers
and the overall PCB will be used in a future study to feed
a finite element-based model and to simulate its
thermomechanical behavior when subjected to a thermal
cycling.
Acknowledgments
One of the authors (AA) was supported by the CEA
NUMERICS program via the European Union Horizon
2020 research and innovation program under the Marie
Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 800945. For the
help provided to experimental tests, authors would like to
thanks Luxembourg Institute of Science and Technology
(LIST).
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