IPC International Community magazine an association member publication
Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1543955
62 I-CONNECT007 MAGAZINE I MARCH 2026 BY J O E FJ E LSTA D, V E R DA N T E L ECT RO N I C S DESIGNING FLEX CIRCUITS for Dynamic Reliability F lex circuits flex. No surprises there. How- ever, they are also very commonly designed into products because they are thin and offer consistent thickness and dielectric properties, attributes highly prized by present-day product de- signers of personal electronics. This would include smartphones and, increasingly, wearable electron- ics for medical monitoring and even fashion. Bendability is perhaps most important for these applications, but designers routinely tap into dynamic flexibility as a hallmark feature of flexible circuits for certain types of products where they anticipate or require repeated dynamic bending over the life of the product. I'll examine some of the high-level requirements for reliably designing flex circuits for dynamic ap- plications—conditions where you might anticipate continuous or intermittent bending, twisting, or motion of the circuit or elements of the service. Designing for such conditions is an area of elec- F L E X I B L E T H I N K I N G