Drive commercial improvements with infrared imaging

Product recalls pose a mounting risk for companies globally, with recalls in the US alone reaching a seven-year high in 2023 and 759 million units.

With tougher regulations, materials shortages and worldwide supply chain issues, the scale of the problem risks significantly eroding bottom-line profits in the short-term. However, the long-term impact of untold reputational damage to a business can be much more destructive.

Fortunately, you can short-circuit quality concerns before they leave your benchtop - with acute thermal imaging insights. From electronic component testing in commercial technology to automotive and semiconductor applications, infrared imaging offers an unparalleled opportunity for industries to improve ROI.

With the insight to expedite core research & redevelopment and streamline rigorous quality control and assurance checks, IR imaging holds a host of benefits - including the increasingly crucial ability to detect counterfeit components. In fact, the number of counterfeit electronic components has increased by over a third in the last year and is on track to cost the global trade market $4.5 trillion annually. Clearly, this is a considerable challenge for manufacturers to overcome - but one that IR thermal imaging is ready to face head-on. 

Cutting costs for commercial development

With global demand surging, production and testing now need to be more efficient and more effective. Design validation as well as production validation are critical. PCB Design Teams need to feel confident that products moving into production won’t have lasting problems, and those products must continue to leave the production line in perfect working order - but the only way to guarantee this is by painstakingly checking every individual component. Or is it?

In-circuit, contact test fixtures are the norm, but they are prohibitively expensive to produce and even more so to implement. They can measurably slow down production time and exacerbate already high labor costs. This is far from ideal when 100% quality control is needed - and at speed.

One solution that an increasing number of leading global manufacturers are using to circumvent this issue is infrared imaging. It allows for almost instantaneous, non-contact electronics testing of individual components or entire systems. This is ideal for large-scale testing for the effects of software or firmware updates on existing systems to ensure clean cohesion and avoiding costly product recalls. 

Automotive applications for IR imaging

A leading benefit of using IR imaging to test electronic components isn’t simply the speed at which design engineers and production operators can gather data, but the sheer scope of it. The depth of detail is extreme - as is its ability to facilitate intense testing with clearly quantifiable data.

A prime example of this is The Battery Innovation Center (BIC) in Newberry, Indiana, which develops, tests, validates, and commercializes vehicle batteries. Part of this process consists of determining safety issues by exposing batteries to the worst-case scenario through a method called ‘abusive battery testing’. 

One such test involves piercing batteries with a nail which simulates short-circuiting which may cause the unit to overheat, catch fire or even explode. While it may sound excessive, this insight is vital to understand the chain reactions that could ensue following a device short circuiting, and high-speed thermal cameras can observe this chain reaction before things get explosive. All of this is vital data that engineers can use when designing batteries to minimize damage and reinforce the structural integrity of components.

For automotive manufacturers, it’s a game-changer that promises to fast-track testing and expedite essential safety research.

Improve efficiency in semiconductors

Not just limited to production and testing, integrated FLIR thermal imaging cameras also excel in supporting the operation of semiconductor manufacturing equipment to improve reliability.

An apt example of this comes from Protec, a manufacturer of semiconductor post-processing equipment including dispensers, die bonders, and pneumatic cylinders. The company introduced FLIR thermal imaging cameras into the design of its Laser-Assisted Bonding (LAB) equipment, which replaces more conventional reflow soldering technologies. Instead of needing to heat the facility to excessive temperatures to ensure adhesion, it instead uses lasers to instigate bonding with concentrated heat only on areas that require it. This has the distinct advantage of avoiding deforming other components via thermal stress.

Of course, such a powerful bit of kit must be carefully monitored, and that’s where FLIR IR thermal cameras are capable of measuring the exact temperature of the laser and the overall heat distribution.

Electronics Design Testing takes the heat off engineering teams

The days of labor-intensive manual contact testing for engineering and production teams are over. Thermal imaging enables engineers to see a complete thermal map of the circuit board, with clear temperature values, so that they can see which components are performing optimally - and which are liabilities. 

More than this, it allows operators to use hot-spot detection to know precisely where to apply thermo-couples or Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTDs), ensuring lasting durability for these expensive elements. 

To learn more about how EDT can uplift your ROI and empower your engineering teams to reduce development times while increasing product efficiency and reliability, click here to download our free guidebook.