Board-level drop test
Board Level Drop Test is mainly used to evaluateAssembled circuit board (PCBA)The reliability performance under instantaneous mechanical impact, with a particular focus onThe structural integrity of the solder joints between surface mount devices (SMD) and the circuit board.。
When electronic products accidentally fall during manufacturing, assembly, transportation, or daily use, the circuit board may bend and deform due to instantaneous acceleration, causing the solder joints to endure significant tensile and shear stress. The board level drop test simulates such real-life situations through standardized accelerated impact conditions, assessing whether the solder joints will develop cracks, fatigue failure, or instantaneous breakage, ensuring that the product has sufficient mechanical durability throughout its lifespan.
The core purpose of board-level drop testing is to:
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Evaluate the reliability of PCBA in portable electronic products under drop impact.
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Comparing the resistance to drop impact of different solder materials, packaging forms, component layouts, or PCB designs.
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Verify the durability and lifespan of solder joints under repeated accelerated impact.
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Provide important basis for product design and material selection.
Due to theBoard Bendingis often the main reason for solder joint failure, so this test is widely used for reliability verification of mobile phones, wearable devices, consumer electronics, and automotive modules.
The board-level drop test is based onJEDEC JESD22-B111International standards implementation ensures that test results have consistency and comparability.
Testing Process and Methods
During the test, the four corners of the PCBA to be tested are fixed to the base plate of the drop test machine with screws, ensuring that the circuit board is in a controlled and repeatable fixed state. After raising the drop table to the specified height, it is allowed to fall freely, impacting the strike surface on the machine, generating a high acceleration impact momentarily. During each drop impact process, the system will simultaneously measure and record the following key parameters:
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Peak Acceleration
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Velocity Change
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Pulse Duration Time
Common standard test conditions are1500 g / 0.5 msThis condition can effectively simulate the instantaneous mechanical stress during actual product drops.
Failure Determination | Objective Standards of Instant Resistance Monitoring
Board-level drop tests are usually paired withMulti Event Detector System (MEDS)to dynamically detect whether there is an electrical interruption at the solder joint at the moment of impact, the failure determination criterion is: when the monitoring system detectsThe resistance value exceeds 1000 Ω during a single impact event.，且在後續In five consecutive impacts, at least three instances show a resistance value exceeding 1000 Ω, and the duration is 1 millisecond (ms) or longer.This standard can effectively eliminate the influence of instantaneous noise, ensuring that the judgment results truly reflect the electrical anomalies caused by the structural damage of the solder joints.
Board-level drop testing has high practical value in the electronics industry and is commonly applied to:
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Reliability comparison of new solder, new packaging, and new materials
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Impact resistance analysis of different PCB thicknesses, layers, and structural designs
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Evaluation of solder joint strength for packages such as BGA, CSP, and QFN
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Process condition adjustment and solder joint design optimization
Through standardized drop conditions and quantitative failure determination, the risk of early failure of products in the market due to drop impacts can be effectively reduced.
