Electronic – Soldering one PCB to another with 90 degrees angle

manufacturingpcbsoldering

I want two PCB's to be soldered with each other in 90-degrees style.

I think that the base PCB should have a slot with the width equals to the top board thickness. The top board should have a flange with SMD pads. Looks simple:

enter image description here

Questions:

  • How do I calculate the slot width? Let's say the top board is 1.8mm thick with two 70 um copper layers. This will give me the total stack fhickness of 1.94 mm. Is it OK to mill the slot with 2mm cutter?
  • Should I make the slot plated or not? Or should I make the slot with "castellated" style edges to allow the solder flow through the slot?
  • Is there anything more I should think of doing things like that?

UPDATE

Forget to mention: I need these connections to withstand a lot of Amps. Like 30 or so.

Regarding the forces: I did not think about it. Moreover – I will have a heavy component on the top board (relay). So I can become a problem… Now I think that I could make additional fixtures on the top cover to prevent the top board from bending. However this is not a solution is the board will be soldered with an inclanation.

Best Answer

I want two PCB's to be soldered with each other in 90-degrees style.

In general, this type of mounting is NOT recommended.
Using just solder to provide mechanical strength is unwise in the extreme. If the board was mounted flat (parallel) to the base board, then castellated half connections are viable since the forces on the joints are lower. These types of installation usually have a minimum of double sided tape providing extra mounting support for the daughterboard.

Soldered connections have a brittle interface, so using them in any situation where force is applied is poor engineering.

You have given no idea of the mass or size of the board to be supported at right angles to the baseboard. This will have an impact on how effective this mounting might be.

You can provide more strength for the soldered joints by using right angle wire/pin connections:

enter image description here

Even here (where the intermetalics span the plated through holes) you have to be careful about the mass, lever size and vibration environment for your boards.

Double row headers help considerably, you can see many options here:

enter image description here

While the pins have considerable holding force, depending on the mass of the daughterboard you may need other mechanical restraints to support the boards.

Update: since you now note that the connections carry considerable current. I'd suggest that a 'solder only' connection is completely unsuitable. The resistivity of solder is an order of magnitude more than that of copper pins.