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Micro-holes are drilled and plated in flexible printed circuit boards (FPCs) for connecting circuits from different layers. More holes, with diameters smaller than 0.3 mm, are required to be drilled in smaller areas with flexible circuits’ miniaturization. The micro-hole quality of micro-drilling is one of the biggest issues of the flexible circuit manufacturers’ production. However, it is not easy to control the quality of micro-holes. The purpose of this study was to conduct research on the tool wear characteristics of FPC drilling process and its influence on micro-hole quality to improve the micro-hole quality of FPC.

The tool-wear characteristics of micro-drills after FPC drilling were observed. The influence of spindle speed, feed rate, number of drilled holes and entry board materials on tool-wear was analyzed. The hole qualities of FPC micro-drilling were measured and observed. The relationship between tool-wear and hole quality was analyzed.

The result showed that the tool-wear characteristics of FPC micro-drilling was similar to the tool-wear characteristics of rigid printed circuit board (RPC) micro-drilling. Abrasive wear occurred on both the main cutting edges and the chisel edges of micro-drills, even though there was no glass fiber reinforcing the cloth inside FPC. Resin adhesion was observed on the chisel edge. The influence of feed and number of drilled holes on tool-wear was significant. Tool-wear significantly influences the hole quality of FPC. Tool-wear will largely decrease the hole position accuracy of FPC micro-holes. Tool-wear will increase the thickness of PI nail heads and the height of exit burrs. Fracture was the main difference between tool wear of FPC and RPC micro-drilling. Resin adhesion of RPC was much more severe than FPC micro-drilling. Increasing the spindle speed properly may improve tool life and hole quality.

The technology and manufacturing of FPC has been little investigated. Research on micro-drilling FPC and research data is lacking so far. The micro-hole quality directly affects the reliability of FPC. Thus, improving the micro-hole quality of FPC is very important.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain the micro drill bit temperature field distribution in micro-drilling process and the temperature drop in retracting process with simulation software. Meanwhile, the key factors that affect the micro drill bit temperature will be obtained as well. The results can also be used to improve the accuracy in on-line drilling temperature measurement.

The purpose of this paper is to obtain the micro drill bit temperature field distribution in micro-drilling process and the temperature drop in retracting process with simulation software. Meanwhile, the key factors that affect the micro drill bit temperature will be obtained as well. The results can also be used to improve the accuracy in on-line drilling temperature measurement.

Micro drill bit high-temperature area mainly concentrates in the cutting edge and chisel edge. With the increase of spindle speed and feed speed, the micro drill bit highest temperature increased. The micro drill bit temperature drop rate reaches 20° in the micro-drilling retraction process with certain parameters. The micro drill bit highest temperature detected by an infrared camera is lower by 22° than that in real drilling. The simulation results can be used to guide the actual industrial production.

The simulation results can be applied to revise the temperature measurement by an infrared camera in the drilling process. Drilling experiments show that the simulation method is correct and has certain practical significance. The current temperature measurement method can satisfy most of the requirements of temperature measurements.

The purpose of this paper is to present key points relating to the development of micro drill bits with high aspect ratios and to provide a solution for high aspect ratio hole drilling.

Based on the analysis of challenges in high aspect ratio hole drilling, key points for the development of micro drills bit with high aspect ratio are discussed. A design example of a micro drill bit with 0.3 mm diameter and a 7.2 mm flute length is presented. Experiments are conducted to verify the performance of the developed micro drill bit.

Helix angle, web thickness and flute land ratio are three key parameters that significantly influence the behaviour of micro drill bits with high aspect ratios. Large helix angle, web thickness and flute land ratio are beneficial in terms of improving the performance of high aspect ratio micro drill bits. Step drilling is essential to prevent drill breakage and to ensure smooth debris evacuation. Meanwhile, proper steps and drilling parameters are of great importance to complete high aspect ratio hole drilling.

The paper highlights key points relating to the development of micro drill bits with high aspect ratios that can provide a satisfactory solution for high aspect ratio micro drill bit design.

The paper aims to present key points regarding the development of an ultra‐small micro drill bit for packaging substrate hole processing.

Key points for the development of ultra‐small drill bits are presented. These are based on a study of the influential mechanisms of micro drill bit material properties, key parameters and coating techniques on the behaviours of micro drill bit. Experiments were conducted to verify the drilling capability of the developed ultra‐small micro drill bits.

The material properties of micro drill bits are of great importance in ensuring the performance. Helix angle, primary face angle and point angle are three key parameters that significantly influence drill bit behaviour. Computer‐aided engineering analysis, temperature monitoring and video monitoring techniques in high‐speed drilling are useful tools for achieving the optimal design of ultra‐small drill bits. Using coating technology on ultra‐small drill bits can improve their hit limits by nearly four times.

The paper highlights key points to consider when developing ultra‐small micro drill bits. The presented points can provide an overall understanding of the challenges and solutions during ultra‐small micro drill bit design. Additionally, this paper presents a solution for packaging substrate ultra‐small hole processing by mechanical drilling.

The purpose of this paper is to present a new method to optimize the micro drill bit based on finite element analysis, and analyze the performance of the asymmetric helix groove micro drill bit and provide a way to conduct the optimization of micro drill bits.

First, the stress and deform of the micro drills were analyzed in ANSYS. Second, the influence of helix angle, web thickness and ratio of flute to land on stiffness was explored. Combining the former two results, a better set of parameters were optimized. Third, the modal analysis and harmonic response analysis of the optimized micro drill bit were analyzed in ANSYS. Finally, an experiment was carried out to verify the performance of the asymmetric helix groove micro drill bit.

The stress and deform of the asymmetric helix groove micro drill bit are not symmetric. The rigidity is getting better with the web thickness increasing in the selected range; while, the rigidity is getting worse with the helix angle and ratio of flute to land increasing in the selected range. The natural frequencies of the optimized micro drill bit are far away from the excitation frequency, and the response displacement is very small under the excitation of the spindle. In the drilling experiment, the optimized micro drill bit performs well.

In this paper, the diameter of the asymmetric helix groove micro drill bit was 0.3 mm and the cross-section shape was not considered. The future research work should consider different diameters and cross-section shapes.

Analyzing the influence of three main geometry parameters on the rigidity in ANSYS, a better set of parameters were optimized from the analysis results. The drilling experimental results show that this method is of great significance for obtaining the appropriate parameters of asymmetric helix groove micro drill bits.

The purpose of this paper is to calibrate the surface emissivity of micro drill bit and to investigate the effect of different drilling parameters on the temperature of micro drill bit in printed circuit board (PCB) micro drilling process.

The surface emissivity of micro drill bit was obtained by experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied in this study to analysis the effect of different drilling parameters on the temperature of micro drill bit in PCB micro hole drilling. The most significant influencing factor on micro drill bit temperature was achieved by ANOVA.

First, the surface emissivity of cemented carbide rod decreased from 0.4 to 0.32 slowly with temperature in the range of 50-220°C. Second, the most significant influencing factor on the micro drill bit temperature was spindle speed among the drilling parameters including spindle speed, retract rate and infeed rate.

In this paper, the influence of roughness of black coating, carbide rod and micro drill bit on the surface emissivity calibration and the temperature measurement was not considered.

A new simple method has been presented to calibrate the surface emissivity of micro drill bit. Through calibrating the surface emissivity of micro drill bit, the temperature of micro drill bit can be measured accurately by infrared thermometry. Analyzing the influences of different drilling parameters on the temperature of micro drill bit, the mechanism of drilling parameters on drilling temperature is achieved. The basis for the selection of drilling parameters to improve the hole quality is enhanced.

To provide a clear picture of the current status of mechanical drilling of printed circuit boards (PCBs).

A review paper detailing the developments of micro‐drill bit and PCB mechanical drilling techniques.

Mechanical drilling will still dominate the PCB hole processing methods. A design method on the basis of theoretical analysis, numerical simulation and experimental verifications is proved as an applicable way to improve the drill bit design efficiency. Newly developed tungsten carbide, novel coating techniques and high‐performance steel‐shank micro‐drill bits are expected. Solutions of micro‐drill bits for high‐density interconnection, IC substrate flexible PCBs, halogen and lead‐free assembly compatible PCBs, as well as 2 mm shank diameter drill bit are worthy of being concerned.

The paper highlights the state‐of‐the‐art techniques of micro‐drill bit manufacturing and novel developed micro‐drill bit. The development direction of micro‐drill bit in the future is concluded.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a method and system to achieve automated measurement of micro drill bit wear.

A method and system of automated measurement of micro drill bit wear on the basis of machine vision are presented. Experiments are conducted to verify the developed method and system.

The worn area of the primary face is an appropriate index to reflect the wear condition of a micro drill bit. A machine vision based technique is an applicable tool for capturing and characterising images of worn micro drill bit. The developed system can accurately measure and characterise the wear performance of micro drill bits with different materials and different parameter designs.

The paper highlights the method and the system for achieving automated measurement of micro drill bit wear. The developed method and system can provide fast and precise evaluation of micro drill bit wear.

The purpose of this study is to present the entry drilling process of flexible printed circuit board (FPCs) and its influence on hole quality, especially hole location accuracy. Compared with the traditional PCB drilling process, the technology of drilling FPCs is facing more problems, such as hole location accuracy, smear on the hole wall surface, burned hole wall surface, etc. Moreover, the materials of FPCs are quite different from the rigid printed circuit boards (RPCs). FPCs no longer contain glass fiber cloths to reinforce resin, resulting in flexibility. Micro-hole quality is the most important issue in FPC drilling. Suggestions were given to obtain higher hole qualities and higher FPC reliability.

The entry drilling process of FPC with different kind of entry boards was observed by a high-speed camera. The hole qualities of FPC micro-drilling, especially hole location accuracy and hole entrance quality, were measured. The relationship between entry boards and hole quality was analyzed.

Significant sliding occurred when drilling FPC with using no-entry board or pure aluminum plate entry board. On the contrary, no significant sliding occurred when using LC-110 or resin-coated aluminum foil (MVC) entry boards. The type, thickness and use-pattern of entry boards influenced hole location accuracy of FPCs seriously. In addition, entry board also influenced the micro-hole entrance quality and micro-hole diameter. The entrance quality of drilling FPC with LC-110 entry board was the best. The diameter variation of drilling FPC with MVC entry board was the smallest. The hole location accuracy decreased as the thickness of entry board increased. Thus, the best use-pattern of entry board was putting a LC-110 under MVC entry board, resulting in best entrance quality and hole location accuracy.

The technology and manufacturing of FPCs in China are obviously behind. Research of FPCs micro-drilling and research data are lacking so far. Thus, it is most necessary to improve the technology level of FPCs micro-drilling in China. Researches on hole quality, especially hole location accuracy of FPCs drilling, were performed in this paper. Suggestions were given to obtain higher hole quality of FPCs.

The purpose of this paper is to present a system for accurately measuring drilling force in the printed circuit board micro drilling process and to characterize the drilling force to provide a better understanding of the micro drilling process.

The drilling force measurement system was established first. Then the drilling force in printed circuit board micro drilling process was characterized experimentally. In particular, the drilling forces in drilling halogen‐free and lead‐free assembly compatible printed circuit boards and the drilling force characteristics in ultra small hole drilling were investigated.

A drilling force measurement system, with the key component of a KISTLER 9256C2 dynamometer, can accurately measure the drilling forces in the printed circuit board micro drilling process. The micro drilling process can be characterized by drilling force. Meanwhile, drilling force is very sensitive to drill breakage and drilling force can be utilized to detect drill breakage in the micro drilling process.

The paper presents a system for accurately measuring the drilling force. Drilling force provides fundamental information for the optimal design of micro drill bits. Drilling force can also characterize the micro drilling process, especially the ultra small hole micro drilling process.