Teardrops

The Teardrops dialog

Summary

The Teardrops dialog is used to add and remove teardrops from the design. Teardrops are often added to a routed PCB design to create stronger track-to-pad, track-to-via, and track-to-track connections. This is valuable when the design objects are very small, and is particularly valuable for drilled pads and vias because mis-alignment between the drill center and the pad/via center can result in the drill hole removing too much of the copper connecting the track to the pad/via. 

Access

The dialog is accessed by clicking Tools » Teardrops from the main menus.

Options/Controls

Working Mode

• Add/Remove - add or remove teardrops in accordance with the other dialog settings.

Objects

• All - target all objects
• Selected only - only target those objects currently selected in the workspace.

Options

• Teardrop style: the edge of the region object used to create the teardrop can be either:
  • Curved - use a Curved Teardrop style.
  • Line - use a Line Teardrop style.
• Force teardrops - if this option is enabled, Teardrops will be applied to all vias and/or SMD pads, even if this results in a DRC violation.
• Adjust teardrop size - if this option is enabled, the Teardrop size is automatically reduced to meet applicable design rules.
• Generate report - create a text report listing both successful and unsuccessful teardrop sites.

Scope

Choose which objects to consider for teardrop addition/removal in conjunction with the coarse-level scoping defined in the Objects region of the dialog. When adding Teardrops, you can configure teardrop sizing as follows:

• Via/TH Pad - specify the length and width of the teardrop as percentages of the via/thru-hole pad diameter (d). The defaults are 30% and 70% respectively. Click the percentage values in the diagram to change the percentages as required.
• SMD Pad (and non-round Thru-Hole Pads) - specify the length and width of the teardrop as percentages of the attached track width (w). The defaults are 100% and 200%, respectively. Click the percentage values in the diagram to change the percentages as required.
• Tracks - specify the length of the teardrop as a percentage of the attached track width (w). The default is 100%. Click the percentage values in the diagram to change the percentages as required.
• T-Junction - specify the length and width of the teardrop as percentages of the primary track width (w) (the horizontal track in the image). The defaults are 300% and 100% respectively. Click the percentage values in the diagram to change the percentages as required.