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Risk Assessment & Management Flashcards

7 cards from real PCB practice questions. Tap to flip, then mark Knew It or Still Learning — missed cards come back until you master them.

Read the first 7 Risk Assessment & Management flashcards as text

  1. What risk is associated with using tin-lead (SnPb) solder on a board required to meet RoHS compliance?

    Answer: Regulatory non-compliance and potential market access restrictions

    RoHS restricts hazardous substances including lead; using SnPb solder violates compliance and can block product sales in regulated markets.

  2. During PCB fabrication, what risk does excessive copper etching (over-etching) introduce?

    Answer: Trace width reduction leading to higher resistance and potential open circuits

    Over-etching removes more copper than intended, narrowing traces, increasing resistance, and risking open circuits on fine-pitch designs.

  3. What failure risk is increased by placing bypass capacitors far from the IC power pins they are intended to decouple?

    Answer: Increased inductance in the decoupling path reduces high-frequency effectiveness

    Longer paths to bypass capacitors add parasitic inductance, reducing their ability to suppress high-frequency noise at the IC power pins.

  4. A designer skips Design Rule Check (DRC) before submitting a PCB for fabrication. What is the most likely risk?

    Answer: Fabrication errors such as shorts, opens, or clearance violations that could have been caught automatically

    DRC automates the detection of design errors like clearance violations and short circuits; skipping it allows preventable defects to reach fabrication.

  5. What risk does a missing solder mask dam between fine-pitch SMD pads create?

    Answer: Solder bridging between adjacent pads during reflow

    Without a solder mask dam, molten solder can flow between closely spaced pads, creating unintended electrical bridges.

  6. Which risk is specifically managed by performing a thermal simulation before PCB layout is finalized?

    Answer: Identifying hotspots that could cause component failure or board delamination before physical prototyping

    Thermal simulation reveals heat distribution and hotspots early, allowing design modifications before costly prototype spins.

  7. What is the risk of using an uncontrolled impedance stackup for a PCB carrying 10 Gbps serial data signals?

    Answer: Signal integrity degradation due to impedance mismatch causing reflections and bit errors

    At 10 Gbps, even small impedance deviations cause significant reflections and eye diagram closure, leading to bit errors.