Printed circuit board assembly for an aircraft solid state power controller

A printed circuit board assembly for an aircraft solid state power controller (SSPC). comprising:

• at least one printed circuit board having a top side and a bottom side, wherein at least one of the top side and the bottom side has a surface layer made from an electrically conductive material and has a plurality of heat generating electronic circuit components mounted thereon, and
• an insulating potting that covers the plurality of heat generating electronic circuit components on the at least one of the top side and the bottom side, the insulating potting comprising an insulating potting body covering the plurality of heat generating electronic circuit components in a contiguous manner;
• wherein the printed circuit board is configured to form a male part of a card edge connector in at least one peripheral region thereof;
• wherein the insulating potting body is formed with a three dimensional structure on its side facing away from the printed circuit board.

A method of manufacturing a printed circuit board assembly for an aircraft solid state power controller (SSPC), the method comprising:

• providing at least one printed circuit board having a top side and a bottom side, at least one of the top side and the bottom side having a surface layer made from an electrically conductive material and a plurality of heat generating electronic circuit components mounted thereon;
• potting an insulating material to the at least one of the top side and bottom side of the printed circuit board such as to cover the plurality of heat generating electronic components, thereby producing an insulating potting having the configuration of an insulating potting body covering the plurality of heat generating electronic circuit components in a contiguous manner;
• and
• forming a male part of a card edge connector in at least one peripheral region of the at least one printed circuit board;
• wherein potting an insulating material to the top side and/or bottom side of the printed circuit board such as to cover the plurality of heat generating electronic components comprises providing the insulating potting body in the configuration of a dam and fill potting by:
• first applying to the top side and/or bottom side of the printed circuit board an insulating dam material having a viscosity of 50×103 mPas or more;
• providing a dam structure forming at least one space enclosed by the insulating dam material, and
• then, after providing the dam structure, filling structures enclosed by the dam structure of insulating dam material with an insulating fill material having a viscosity between 10 mPas 49×103 mPas;
• wherein the insulating potting body is formed with a three dimensional structure on its side facing away from the printed circuit board;
• wherein the three dimensional structure includes at least one predetermined pattern of protrusions and recesses, thereby forming any of:
• a sealing structure configured for fluid tightly sealing a pattern of conductive traces leading to the edge of the printed circuit board and thus forming the male part of the card edge connector, in a configuration of the card edge connector being plugged into the aircraft SSPC socket;
• or
• a structure for accommodating a sealing element configured for fluid tightly sealing a pattern of conductive traces leading to the edge of the printed circuit board and thus forming the male part of the card edge connector, in a configuration of the card edge connector being plugged into the aircraft SSPC socket.