All About Rigid Flex Printed Circuit Boards

Rigid Flex PCBs are Printed Circuit Boards that are composed of various rigid areas and multiple flexible areas. The rigid areas offer durability of the board whereas the flexible areas offer adaptability to the application of the board. Because of their semi flexible nature, Rigid PCBs are most commonly used in military and medical electronic equipment.

Rigid flex PCBs are comprised of a combination of different materials. The rigid areas are made up of FR4 material, whereas the flexible areas of the rigid PCB are comprised of PI or PET. The connection that joins the rigid to the flex is made up of epoxy or resin. This allows the flexible and adaptable movements.

Some of the advantages of rigid flex PCBs include resistance to high temperature, shape adaptability, chemical stability and resistance to static interference.

Types of Rigid Flex PCBs

Ordinarily, there are two types of rigid flex PCBs. 

• Semi flex printed circuit boards 
• Multi flex printed circuit boards

Semi flex boards are perfect if the number of bends is very small. They are also considered a lower cost option because the flexible areas are made up of a thin FR4 material. 

Multi flex boards on the other hand are made up of a polyimide film coating the entire surface of the board. These boards are perfect for applications that only require a very small bend. Multi flex are also known as hybrid designs as they are made up of rigid and flexible substrates. 

Multi flex boards have varied possibilities that offer designers/ engineers greater freedom when the boards are designed and when the materials are selected. Asymmetrical and symmetrical are the two basic designs that are used in multi flex boards. The term asymmetrical is used because both sides are made using different materials. 

Layer stack-up is the simplest form of any multi flex board. Here the flexible material is placed on one side and the rigid material is located on the opposite end of the board. The stack up on asymmetrical multi-flex boards is not restricted to only one layer because it can contain multiple layers. Multi flex boards with asymmetrical layer stack ups are comparatively easier and cheaper to produce.

Overall rigid flex PCBs are known as passive wiring structures. They are used to interconnect electronic components like integrated circuits, capacitors and resistors. In the consumer electronics industry, rigid flex PCBs are used in (but are limited to) cameras, personal entertainment devices, calculators and exercise monitors.

For affordable rigid flex, flex and rigid PCB fabrication, you can contact Super PCB. The company also specializes in printed circuit board prototypes. For more information, visit http://www.superpcb.com/