Given the nature of the finishes, and their relative low hardness
(certainly in the case of lead free HASL) you probably would be able to
use a device called a Shore Schleroscope, which in principle is a
pen-like device with a ball bearing which drops onto the surface being
measured. The amount of "bounce" detected determines the surface
hardness of the finish.

I would suspect that the amount of area being measured would have an
influence, so it may be best to organise a series of base test panels
which are identical for all the proposed finishes.

There are several other types of measuring, dependant on the hardness of
materials tested (Steel can be measured by an Izod impact test etc) and
various conversion charts which will give conversions into Rockwell,
Knoop values etc.

Hope this helps

Colin W.T. McVean M.Inst.C.T
Production Manager
 
Artetch Circuits Ltd  (www.artetch.co.uk)
Direct Dial      01903 712926
Switch Board  01903 725365
Skype: colin.artetch
 
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-----Original Message-----
From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of arnaud grivon
Sent: 23 March 2007 10:19
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: [TN] Hardness Characterization of a PCB Surface Finish

Hello TechNet,

What would be the adequate technique(s) to characterize the hardness of 
a given PCB surface finish (resistance to electrical test probe impact)?
Concerns are varying marks of electrical test probes after assembly 
depending on the PCB source.
Regards,

A. Grivon

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