KB: Configure and animate the bending of PCB that is flexible entirely
Altium Designer
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Solution Details
To animate the bending of a PCB that is entirely flexiible in 3D mode, at least one stationary Rigid board region is required to be used as a frame of reference. Conveniently, in a typical design, there is a small portion at an end of the board which interfaces with another board that needs to be strengthened mechanically, say, by glueing a stiffener, that may be assigned to this Rigid board region.
- In Layer Stack Manager or Design » Layer Stack Manager, create two identical sub-stacks, differing only by one with 'Is Flex' option enabled (Flex) and the other disabled (Rigid).
When making use of custom bikini coverlays your sub-stacks will not be identical though custom overlays in the Flex sub-stack will equal the standard solder mask layers in the Rigid sub-Ssack per the 3D output.
- In Board Planning Mode or View » Board Planning Mode, define the small board region at an end to be used as a frame of reference.
- Double-click on the board region in Step 2 and assign the Rigid sub-stack from Step 1 with '3D Locked' option ticked.
- Double-click on the main Flex region and define and configure bending lines.
- In 3D mode or View » 3D Layout Mode, hit '5' to verify the bending angle/orientation in 3D mode.
Please refer our online manual for further details:
https://www.altium.com/documentation/altium-designer/defining-board-regions-and-bending-lines-ad