Printed Circuit Board Rapid Prototyping with Three-Dimensional Printer

Abstract

The popularity of Three-Dimensional Printer (3DP) technology is increasing by using it in the Electric-Electronic industry. Printed Circuit Board (PCB) designs, which are frequently used in the electronics industry, have gained a different dimension with 3DP technology. Since the production of components alone with 3DP is not sufficient, the idea that these components should be placed in a PCB design has been suggested in this work. In this study in which 3DP technology is used, the battery charging circuit has been selected as the sample test circuit. PCB assembly (PCBA) was carried out in four steps. These steps are image processing, board design, conductor printing and assembly. As a result of this work, the single layer battery charging circuit was prototyped with 3DP as the final product. In addition, with reference to this prototype, the production cost, reliability, reduction of production processes and applicability have been tested in this work. PCB designs with conductive ways are available in the literature. In this study, PCB design was carried out with 3DP. This design, supported by experimental results, has brought innovation to the literature in this area.