A comparison of PWB warpage due to simulated infrared and wave soldering processes

Two types of bare, four layer printed wiring board (PWB) test vehicles were designed and fabricated to replicate simplified versions of typical boards produced by PWB manufacturers. The boards were subjected to simulated infrared and wave soldering reflow processes in a small lab-scale oven integrated with a shadow Moire out-of-plane displacement measurement system. The measured warpages were qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed at selected temperatures during the reflow profiles. The results presented compare and contrast the effects that simulated wave and infrared reflow soldering processes have on the warpage of two different PWB designs.