Shock-protection suspension design for Printed Circuit Board

The Shock Response Spectrum (SRS) analysis provides general guidelines for the design of suspensions and cushions for shock-protection of fragile components. This paper presents the central results of the SRS approach in the context of designing a compliant suspension for a Printed Circuit Board (PCB) inside a wireless telephone handset. The dynamic response of the PCB, to a spectrum of shock pulses, is measured for a rigid suspension and for three versions of a grommeted compliant suspension. The resulting SRS plot shows clearly the resonant response of the PCB, and the effectiveness of the compliant suspensions in reducing shock pulse amplification during resonance. The results also illustrate the usefulness of high damping of the suspension material in reducing peak accelerations. The guidelines generated through this study are applicable for packaging design for a wide-array of electronic products, especially those pertaining to communications/computing.