Common PCB Failure Reasons and How OrCAD X Minimizes Them

September 23, 2024

Cadence PCB Solutions

Key Takeaways

Component failures, faulty traces, power issues, design errors, and environmental factors can all lead to PCB failures.
Advanced features like Live BOM, real-time DRCs, signal integrity analysis, and DFM checks help minimize potential failure points in PCB design.
OrCAD X addresses manufacturing-related issues such as plating voids, copper-to-edge clearance, and bad soldering to ensure high-quality PCB production.

There are numerous PCB failure reasons, from power failures to component failures.

There are numerous PCB failure reasons, from power failures to component failures.

Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) appear in virtually every electronic device. At the same time, it seems they may break due to a variety of PCB failure reasons. Below, we’ll take a look at some common PCB failure reasons and how advanced software tools like OrCAD X can help identify or minimize potential failure points in the design phase, reducing costs associated and creating more reliable PCBs.

Major PCB Failure Reasons Summarized

Cause	Description
Component Failures	Components can fail due to poor quality, incorrect specifications, or environmental stresses like temperature and humidity. Poorly manufactured components, insufficient board thickness, and use of counterfeit components also contribute to failures.
Faulty Traces	Traces can break due to physical damage, corrosion, or design flaws like inadequate width for current carrying requirements. These issues can lead to overheating and breakage, resulting in PCB failure.
Power Failures	Power failures can be due to inadequate voltage supply, incorrect loading, or failures in power regulation components. These issues can cause insufficient power distribution and potentially damage other components on the PCB leading to failure.
Design Errors	Incorrect component placement, inadequate spacing for thermal expansion, or errors in schematic entry can all happen. Common design errors include closely placed traces, bad soldering, cold joints, poor connectivity, and poor component placement.
Plating Voids	Plating voids are gaps or holes in the copper coating of plated through-holes, often due to contamination, air bubbles, or insufficient cleaning during the deposition process, preventing current from passing. These voids occur in the manufacturing process but can be prevented with good design for manufacturing (DFM) precautions.
Insufficient Copper-to-Edge Clearance	Copper too close to the edge of the PCB can lead to short circuits, corrosion, and potential electrical shocks. This can happen if the copper layer is trimmed during manufacturing, exposing it to the environment and increasing the risk of shorts and corrosion.
Bad Soldering	Also during the manufacturing process, improper soldering, such as cold soldering or contamination can cause connection problems. Common soldering defects include opens, excessive solder, component shifting, cold joints, solder bridges, webbing and splashes, and lifted pads.
Slivers	During the manufacturing process, narrow wedges of copper or solder mask that detach during the etching process can cause shorts or corrosion. These slivers can connect to other pieces of copper or expose copper plating, leading to defective circuits and reduced PCB lifespan.
Acid Traps	Acute angles in the circuit design can trap acid during etching, leading to excessive corrosion and defective circuits. Acid traps cause more material to be removed than intended, compromising connections and leading to PCB failure.
Thermal Issues	Voids between thermals and the plane can result in poor heat dissipation, leading to overheating and potential PCB damage. Ineffective heat transfer can cause components to solder improperly and the PCB to overheat during operation.
Electromagnetic Issues	Electromagnetic interference (EMI) can lead to malfunctioning circuits and defective products, caused by poor design practices such as inadequate grounding and shielding.
Environmental Factors	Exposure to various environmental factors such as temperature, dirt, debris, moisture, accidental impacts (dropping, crushing), power overloads, surges, lightning strikes, electrical fires, and water submersion are one of the major PCB failure reasons. Electrostatic discharge (ESD) during the assembly stage is particularly damaging, causing latent or catastrophic component defects.
Burned Circuit Boards	High temperatures during manufacturing or operation can cause components to burn out, especially in densely packed boards. Burned components can result from extreme heat, improper spacing, or errors in voltage protection, often requiring a complete board overhaul.
Age	Over time, components can deteriorate, leading to leaks, insulation breakdown, and reduced capacitance and resistance. Aging components can cause intermittent power issues and other failures, making regular maintenance and component replacement necessary to ensure PCB reliability.

OrCAD X Live BOM provides compliance lifecycle, status, market availability, and price.

OrCAD X Live BOM provides compliance lifecycle, status, market availability, and price.

Component Failures

OrCAD X reduces the risk of component failures through its advanced Live BOM and component sourcing capabilities. The Live BOM feature, integrated with Sourcengine, provides real-time visibility into the lifecycle, compliance, and market availability of components, ensuring that only high-quality, reliable parts are used.

Designers can view detailed information about each component, including manufacturer part numbers, compliance data, and risk scores. This comprehensive data helps them select components that meet the required standards, reducing the risk of failure due to poor quality or incorrect specifications.

The tool provides alternate part suggestions for high-risk components, ensuring that substitutes are readily available, thereby maintaining the integrity and reliability of the design.

Faulty Traces

OrCAD X helps prevent faulty traces through real-time Design Rule Checks (DRCs). The platform's constraint-driven routing ensures that traces are designed with adequate width and spacing, reducing the risk of overheating and breakage. The integrated DRCs continuously monitor the design, highlighting potential issues such as inadequate trace width or spacing.

Power Failures

OrCAD X in conjunction with a Sigrity X Aurora license, enables the use of advanced power integrity analysis tools to detect and prevent power failures. The platform offers power-aware routing and power distribution network (PDN) analysis, ensuring that the voltage supply is adequate and correctly distributed across the PCB. By simulating the power network, designers can identify and resolve issues such as inadequate voltage supply and incorrect loading

Design Errors

OrCAD X minimizes design errors through its integrated schematic capture and layout environment. The platform provides real-time feedback and constraints management, allowing designers to catch and correct errors during the design phase. Features such as automated layout suggestions and constraint-driven design ensure correct component placement, adequate spacing, and accurate schematic entry.

Constraint manager in OrCAD X ensures physical constraints are adhered to. In the case of this image: power and signal trace widths.

Constraint manager in OrCAD X ensures physical constraints are adhered to. In the case of this image: power and signal trace widths.

Plating Voids

Design for Fabrication (DFF) checks can identify and prevent plating voids. OrCAD X includes specific checks for the manufacturing process, ensuring that plated through-holes are correctly formed and free from contamination or air bubbles.

Copper-to-Edge Clearance

Constraint management tools ensure sufficient copper-to-edge clearance by setting specific design rules. Designers can define clearance constraints for the copper layer, preventing it from being trimmed too close to the edge during manufacturing with real-time DRCs enforcing these rules.

Starved Thermals and Burned Boards

OrCAD X thermal management features can identify and prevent starved thermals. The platform offers detailed thermal analysis with Celsius Thermal Solver, ensuring that heat dissipation is adequate and voids are minimized.

Manufacturing-Related Failure Reasons

OrCAD X effectively addresses critical manufacturing and assembly issues such as acid traps, slivers, and bad soldering, through Design for Manufacturing (DFM) checks. These checks prevent acid traps by optimizing circuit angles to avoid excessive corrosion during the etching process. By providing real-time feedback and automated rule checks, designers can adjust the layout to eliminate these issues before production. Additionally, OrCAD X Design for Assembly (DFA) checks aid in creating defect-free reliable solder joints.

Understanding the common PCB failure reasons is crucial for designing reliable and high-performance PCBs. To explore how Cadence's suite of PCB design tools can enhance your design process, visit our PCB Design and Analysis Software page. Learn more about the powerful capabilities of OrCAD X to ensure your PCBs designs are perfected.

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