PCB Thermal Test Bench, thermal profiling proven across -20°C to 200°C.

1. Introduction

Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) need to go through a series of extensive tests and inspections at each step of the manufacturing process to assure the product meets or exceeds specification. Reliability decreases exponentially in electronic components due to heat problems, which is why the Neometrix PCB Thermal Test Bench — part of the Thermal Air series of thermal testing and cycling test systems — helps manufacturers design ICs, chips, and PCBs for superior thermal performance.

2. System Functionality and Overview

The Neometrix Thermal Tester is a temperature-forcing system and environmental test chamber that provides quality assurance through thermal cycling testing. It uses a standard, highly reliable FLIR camera for thermal scanning, giving test engineers a live, full-field infrared view of the board under test rather than relying on single-point thermocouples alone.

As a mobile thermal testing solution, the system is capable of environmental stress testing throughout the semiconductor design, manufacturing, and back-end test processes — meaning the same platform can support engineering validation early in the design cycle and production-line screening later on.

3. Imaging & Sensing

Thermal capture is built around a wide-angle infrared imaging camera with a minimum 50° horizontal field of view and 640×480 pixel resolution or better, allowing full-board thermal maps to be captured in a single frame rather than stitched from multiple scans.

Imaging highlights

• Field of view: 50° horizontal or better
• Resolution: 640×480 pixels or better
• Temperature range: -20°C to 200°C
• Output: False-colour thermal maps for hotspot identification

4. Test Fixture and Mechanical Design

The board under test is held in an automated enclosure with a dedicated PCB test fixture, sized for boards up to 16×16 inches or better. The enclosure positions the board consistently under the IR camera on every run, so successive thermal scans of the same board — or of successive boards off the same line — can be compared directly.

5. Power Supply and Electrical Loading

To generate realistic thermal signatures, the board under test needs to be energised under representative loads. The Thermal Tester's power supply module provides a minimum of eight relay-switched channels, delivering 230VAC/3A/50Hz and 28VDC/5A or better, so multiple supply rails and load conditions on the board can be exercised and imaged in the same test cycle.

6. Thermal Analysis Software

Captured thermal frames are processed through dedicated thermal analysis software for hotspot and other fault detection. This turns a raw infrared image into engineering data — flagging components running outside expected temperature bands, tracking thermal drift across test cycles, and supporting pass/fail decisions against defined thermal limits.

7. Application Areas

Printed Circuit Boards need to go through a series of extensive tests and inspections at each step of the manufacturing process to assure the products meet or exceed specification — the PCB Thermal Test Bench supports this across several sectors:

Defence & Aerospace

• Thermal qualification of defence electronics and line replaceable units (LRUs)
• Thermal reliability screening of avionics and aerospace PCBs

Design & Manufacturing

• New PCB and IC design validation for thermal derating
• In-line environmental stress screening during manufacturing
• Back-end semiconductor test and burn-in hotspot analysis

Industrial & Transport Electronics

• Power-electronics and converter board thermal profiling
• Railway signalling and traction electronics qualification
• Automotive and EV control-unit thermal testing
• Telecom and industrial control-board reliability testing

8. Delivery and Support

Neometrix provides comprehensive after-sales support including installation, commissioning, operator training, preventive maintenance, and on-site service for the PCB Thermal Test Bench, and exports the system to global customers across defence, aerospace, and industrial electronics sectors.

Conclusion

The PCB Thermal Test Bench gives Neometrix customers a dependable, FLIR-based benchmark for thermal reliability testing of PCBs, ICs, and chips. As a PCB thermal test bench manufacturer and supplier in India, Neometrix combines a wide-angle IR camera, automated test fixturing, and dedicated thermal analysis software into a single mobile test platform suited to defence, aerospace, automotive, rail, and industrial electronics programmes worldwide.