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What is the Essence of Thermal Relief in a PCB?

Heat dissipation concerns are on an increase in recent years, following the

clustering or closer placement of components on circuit boards. Due to

the proximity of these parts, it has become increasingly difficult to

dissipate or keep away heat or thermal energy within the board. Today,

one can use thermal relief pads to conduct heat away from the

components.

In this article, we define thermal relief PCB, explain the important and

explain how you can maximize it for the best thermal management

results.

Table of Contents

Thermal Relief PCB Meaning

Thermal relief, also called thermal relief pad and thermal pad, refers to

the dedicated pad that manages heat/thermal transport in a circuit board.

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Thermal Relief PCB Footprint

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The primary function of the pad is to provide “relief” to the PCB, in terms

of the heat conduction capabilities. For this purpose, let us look at some of

the factors that go into making the footprint.

The Location

The thermal relief PCB pad is designed as a large area of metal, meant for

enabling the soldering of the metal to either the circuit board or the

device.

It is also possible to solder or attach the metal to other surfaces, such as

heatsink and a bolt.

Thermal Relief PCB Connection

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The pad is usually connected between the heatsink and the

heat-generating components. This is done to facilitate the further

conduction away of the heat coming from these parts. That way, other

components wouldn’t be exposed to the heat and the negative effects.

Also, the thermal relief pad is commonly used in the location where there

is either an existing connection between the fan-out via or the component

pin to the copper plane.

The Copper Pour Connection

The argument is on whether the thermal relief pad is to be connected to

the copper pour or to the tracks. These tips will help you make the right

thermal relief PCB connections:

 The thermal relief pad can be connected to the copper pour via a

thermal connection. The connection is enabled by the use of 3 to 4

traces of copper spokes to have the pad attached to the

surrounding copper.

 For the best results, it is best to connect the pad to a few narrow

tracks. The reason is that a direct connection to the copper pour

makes the pad’s soldering difficult.

PCB Thermal Relief Guidelines

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Designers ought to follow certain steps and guidelines, as these help them

optimize the thermal relief pad for the best results.

Here are the cardinal points of utilizing the pad in your circuit board’s

layout:

Thru-Hole Component Pins

Also called the thru-hole pins; these are the pins, which have been drilled

through the circuit board for soldering purposes. The major concerns for

using the thermal relief PCB pad for these pins are:

Cold Solder Joint

There is a risk of having a cold solder joint created. It is a result of the

inability of the thru-hole pins from getting enough heat for solderability

purposes.

The reasons for the inability to create good solder joints include:

 The tendency of having heat pulled away from the pin by a split

plane or any other small metal area. The resultant effect is that the

area serves as a heatsink and takes away the heat.

 The cold solder joints are created in multilayered PCBs, whereby an

excessive amount of heat is required to extend beyond the several

square feet of metal.

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Forceful Heat Application

There is another risk of having heat forcefully applied towards the melting

of the solder. This happens as a result of trying to “unsolder” the solder

that was directly soldered to the larger areas of the metal.

The outcome of doing this is that the surrounding components/parts and

traces are exposed to damages.

Surface Mount Pins

These are pins used for Surface Mount Devices (SMDs). Possible issues

tend to arise with the smaller, two-pinned SMT devices. These problems

arise due to the directly soldering of one of the pins to the larger area of

metal.

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Here are some of the reasons why PCB designers would embed a surface

mount pad in a metal fill:

 The embedding might give the best of electrical performance, but it

comes at the expense of pulling away heat from the thermal relief

pad.

 There is also a risk of having one side of the solder melting faster

than the other, due to the imbalance of the metal between the pins.

The best way to tackle the imbalance of the metal is to use several traces

to connect a surface mount thermal relief pad. This proves to be a better

option, rather than having it embedded into the large area of metal.

Metal Routing

There is a tendency that the metal wouldn’t be enough to enable the

connection of the spokes to the surrounding copper. This happens due to

the following reasons:

 The automated process of using CAD systems for adding the

thermal relief PCB pads to the pins often impacts the pad. This also

leads to limited space for the spoke-to-copper connection.

 Certain power traces with lower conducting levels of current are

often routed with the narrower traces.

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Vias

There might be no need to use the thermal relief PCB with the vias,

especially the ones that connect to the larger area fills, power planes and

ground planes. The reason is that they don’t often have pins soldered into

them.

The primary consideration for using the pad for the vias is due to the

following reasons:

 If you are using nets that conduct higher current levels.

 If this is the case, use the thermal relief PCB pad because some

short power traces might facilitate excessive heat conduction to the

surface-mount pins.

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What is the Purpose of Thermal Relief in PCB?

You need to know when to use thermal relief PCB for your circuit board.

The following are some of the benefits:

 The pads aid in the manufacturability of circuit boards.

 You can use thermal relief PCB pads to provide a robust electrical

connection from the pad to the plane.

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 It also aids in the preventing of excessive heat dissipation into the

metal plane.

Conclusion

Thermal relief pads are used in PCBs to bolster the restriction of heat flow

into the copper pour, keeps the heat confined in the pad required for PCB

component mounting and improving the pad’s solderability.

Related Posts:

1. Everything You Need to Know About Thermal Clad PCB

2. What is PCB Thermal Resistance?

3. What is Thermal Consideration in PCB Design?

4. What are the Metals with Low Thermal Conductivity?

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