What is metal core printed circuit?
Metal core printed circuit board is abbreviated as MCPCB. And namely, the core or the base material of MCPCB is a metal instead of the traditional FR4/CEM1-3.
Types of metal bases used in MCPCB
The metal cores of the thermal PCB can be aluminum, copper and steel alloys. Apart from being cheaper than copper, aluminum is known for its good heat transferring and dissipation abilities, which is the most common used. However, copper is considered to be a better performer. So, why does the aluminum become the first choice for the material of the MCPCB?
Aluminum base—The aluminum PCB offers good heat dissipation and heat transferring ability. Since they are also light in weight, the aluminum core PCBs are widely used in LED products.
Copper base—The copper core board features a better performance than aluminum. But customers will usually choose the aluminum instead of copper, for it is relatively expensive. Also, compared with the aluminum, the copper is heavier and involves a tough machining process.
Various base metals and their properties
| Metal Base Material | Thermal Conductivity (W/m-K) | Coefficient of Thermal Expansion (µm/m-°C) |
| Aluminum | 88-251 | 25 |
| Copper | 386 | 17 |
Based on the table, it can be known that although the thermal conductivity of the copper is better than that of the aluminum, its ability of thermal expansion does not perform better than the aluminum.
Therefore, there are some reasons why the aluminum is the first choice for the material of the MCPCB, including the lower cost compared to copper, light weight, excellent durability and its heat transferring capabilities.
And these are also the reasons that the MCPCB is widely used in the LED products as we mentioned in the last article.
So, this is the end of this article. In case if you have any questions, you are welcome to contact us via email at sales@bestpcbs.com. We are fully equipped to handle your PCB or MCPCB manufacturing requirements.
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Tags: MCPCB