Thermal relief for through-hole pads in PCB Design - Dashboard Guide

Dashboard Mode - Thermal relief for through-hole pads

Goal

Understand how thermal relief affects soldering quality and heat distribution on through-hole pads in PCB design.

Sample Data: Thermal Relief Parameters and Results

Pad ID	Pad Diameter (mm)	Thermal Relief Spoke Count	Spoke Width (mm)	Thermal Resistance (°C/W)	Solder Joint Quality (1-5)
P1	1.2	4	0.25	1.8	4
P2	1.2	6	0.20	1.5	5
P3	1.5	4	0.30	2.0	3
P4	1.5	8	0.15	1.2	5
P5	1.0	4	0.20	2.2	3
P6	1.0	6	0.25	1.7	4

Dashboard Components

• KPI Card: Average Thermal Resistance
  Formula: Average of Thermal Resistance column = (1.8+1.5+2.0+1.2+2.2+1.7)/6 = 1.73 °C/W
• KPI Card: Average Solder Joint Quality
  Formula: Average of Solder Joint Quality column = (4+5+3+5+3+4)/6 = 4.0
• Bar Chart: Thermal Resistance by Pad ID
  Shows each pad's thermal resistance value for comparison.
• Bar Chart: Solder Joint Quality by Pad ID
  Shows solder joint quality rating per pad.
• Scatter Plot: Thermal Resistance vs. Spoke Count
  X-axis: Spoke Count, Y-axis: Thermal Resistance
  Shows how increasing spoke count affects thermal resistance.
• Table: Filterable data table showing all columns for detailed analysis.

Dashboard Layout

+----------------------+----------------------+
|  KPI: Avg Thermal    |  KPI: Avg Solder     |
|  Resistance (1.73)   |  Quality (4.0)       |
+----------------------+----------------------+
|      Bar Chart: Thermal Resistance by Pad ID      |
+---------------------------------------------------+
|      Bar Chart: Solder Joint Quality by Pad ID    |
+---------------------------------------------------+
| Scatter Plot: Thermal Resistance vs. Spoke Count  |
+---------------------------------------------------+
| Filterable Data Table                              |
+---------------------------------------------------+

Interactivity

User can filter pads by Pad Diameter or Spoke Count. Filtering updates all charts and KPIs to reflect only selected pads. For example, selecting Pad Diameter = 1.2 mm updates KPIs and charts to show data only for pads P1 and P2.

Self-Check

If you add a filter for Spoke Count = 6, which pads remain and how do the average thermal resistance and solder joint quality KPIs change?

Answer: Pads P2 and P6 remain.
Average Thermal Resistance = (1.5 + 1.7)/2 = 1.6 °C/W
Average Solder Joint Quality = (5 + 4)/2 = 4.5

Key Result

Dashboard shows how thermal relief spoke count and width affect thermal resistance and solder joint quality on through-hole pads.