Robert Ussery wrote:

> I'm getting ready to build a device that will
> need to survive significant physical shocks and accelerations. I'd prefer
> surface mount construction for the size advantage, but I'm concerned that
> flexing of the board and other physical stresses may cause surface mount
> parts to separate from the board.


Hi Robert,

It's a bit hard to know what 'significant' is without knowing the actual
application, but...

Can you take the approach of not letting the PCB flex (significantly) in the
first place?

Do you have the luxury of SMT components only on one side of the PCB?

If so, do you have the luxury of securely mounting the PCB to a fairly thick
metal plate?
(With some insulator material or SilPad (if heat-sinking is needed) between
the PCB and metal plate.)

It sounds like you want to keep weight down for obvious reasons, so maybe
this approach would be bad for your application.


Best regards,

Ken Pergola

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