This document establishes design concepts, guidelines, and procedures intended to promote appropriate ‘Design for Reliability (DfR)’ procedures and to ensure reliable printed wiring assembly (PWA) characteristics. The major focus of the information presented is directed toward those PWAs that have surface mount (SM) components, either totally, or intermixed with through-hole components, mounted on one or both sides of the mounting structure.

Purpose The definition of reliability in this document is:

Reliability is the ability of a product to function under given conditions and for a specified period of time without exceeding acceptable failure levels.

This document addresses reliability-related aspects of product design, process design, as well as material/component selection and qualification. This document identifies appropriate existing IPC documents for basic detailed information.

The effort of this document is directed at SMT; the interconnect structure and the solder joint will receive most of our attention.