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Speedstack Flex brochure

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Stackup Editor /  Navigator – click to view full graphic 

Why create stackups with Speedstack Flex??

Speedstack Flex allows PCB fabricators and OEM engineers to create and document flex-rigid PCB layer stackups using the Speedstack family of PCB design tools.

What will Speedstack Flex do for me?

OEM designers
Speedstack Flex allows OEM designers to create an accurate and efficient flex-rigid PCB stackup in minutes, with error-free documentation for tighter control over the finished board. 

PCB fabricators
For PCB fabricators, Speedstack Flex provides the flexibility to quickly calculate the possible impact of substituting alternative materials to improve manufacturability and reduce cost while maintaining the specified parameters and performance of the board.

How? 

Easy graphical stackup display
The Speedstack Flex navigator enables you to link and document as many cross sections as you require in order to fully document your flex-rigid buildup.

Speedstack Flex Navigator – click to view full graphic

Speedstack Flex supports documentation of common flex-rigid constructions, including doublets where stacked pairs of flex link two rigid sections of the flex-rigid construction together. The navigator works from a master stack comprising the full set of materials used in the final stackup and documents each rigid and flex-rigid section with as many "substacks" as needed for your design. There are no limits to the number of substacks, or layercount of the total build.

A range of materials including flexible adhesives, bond ply and FlexiCore can be enabled or disabled for each layer, and impedance structures can be added to each sub-stack.

Mesh / Crosshatch ground planes

When used in conjunction with Si8000m and Si9000e field solvers, Speedstack Flex also permits the modeling and documentation of mesh / crosshatch ground planes from within the Speedstack Flex environment. Mesh geometry and structure data is easily shared between Si8000m and Si9000e using the clipboard.

Internal Coverlays

Enhanced rules allow impedance structures to be added when coverlays exist internally within a stack. When a coverlay is beyond the outer copper it will behave like a coating, when internal it will behave like a bondply or prepreg

Doublets
Speedstack Flex provides for situations where two or more flexi cores are present with an air gap in between.

Technical report – click to view full graphic

Definable colours per material
Speedstack Flex gives you the ability to set and store individual material colours via the material Properties dialog. This will help ensure that special build requirements are obvious during fabrication. You'll find this useful for documenting plated layers or highlighting specific material usage such as no-flow prepregs and flexible cores.

Material color definition – click to view full graphic

Speedstack Flex's printed technical reports will reflect the colour changes defined in the Stack Editor.

Powerful stack browser / search option
Utilise alternate data streams (ADS) to store summary stack information, including layer count, thickness, copper thickness, etc. Speedstack Flex's powerful search mechanism allows you to specify a filter criteria and match the relevant files; your selected file is automatically loaded into the stack editor.

Without Speedstack Flex...

Flex-rigid PCB manufacture can be expensive in money and time and using the traditional, informal methods of exchanging stackup information is prone to misinterpretation as the stack is passed around the supply chain. Errors in stack documentation can all too easily result in board scrappage and remanufacture.

Interactive Speedstack Flex brings reduced cost and enhanced reporting capability...

Speedstac Flex for cost control
Speedstack Flex allows OEM designers and PCB fabricators to control the traditionally high cost of flex-rigid PCBs. Using comprehensive, standard or custom libraries of suppliers, material lead times and costs, Speedflex can eliminate hours of complex calculations by quickly displaying the predicted effect of using different materials and suppliers on a board’s electrical performance, cost and manufacturing yield. This ultra-fast process means that more options can be explored to find the optimum combination of materials and suppliers for each board.

High quality error-free documentation
Once the flex-rigid stackup is complete, Speedstack Flex adds flex-rigid report capability to the Speedstack report generator.

Documents can be exported in a range of industry-standard formats including JPEG, Gerber and PDF files so that every company and individual within the fabrication process, from PCB fabricators to brokers, can have the same clear instructions and parameters.