Panelization tips for metal core PCBs

[dkonigs]

There is a lot of info out there on general practices for panelizing PCB designs, but its almost entirely focused on your standard FR4 PCBs.
I'm working on a relatively small PCB that's going to be produced with JLCPCB's copper core process, and need to come up with a decent panel layout.

My current layout looks something like this:


Its a pretty straightforward v-scoring approach, with wide tabs on the edges to make the rail-to-rail dimensions nice round numbers.

Does this look like a decent layout?  Should I be doing something else to separate the boards a bit more in the panel?
I'm wondering how well this will work, and how hard it'll be to pop apart the boards after assembly.
Its hard to know what I should be doing here, because (as mentioned above), none of the panelization advice I've seen spends any time talking about whether metal core PCBs bring in different considerations.

In case you were curious, I decided to see what JLCPCB's own panelization features did on their order page.  They don't seem to do anything different depending on the PCB type.  Of course without actually placing an order, I have no idea if they'll deviate once engineers actually prepare the design for manufacture.

Thanks.

[incf]

I have no direct experience, take with a grain of salt.

I'd be worried about flexion.

But I don't know how stiff or flexible a copper PCB is (especially after v-scoring)

When in doubt, ask the manufacturer.

[thm_w]

Previous thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/jlcpcb-copper-core-pcb-differences/
So you are assembling them yourself or JLC is doing it? If JLC does it then they can figure it out.

Only thing I see with your design is the inner beveled edges won't come out like that, because the router bit is ~2mm and can't make a tight square corner.

[dkonigs]

Previous thread: https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/jlcpcb-copper-core-pcb-differences/
So you are assembling them yourself or JLC is doing it? If JLC does it then they can figure it out.

Only thing I see with your design is the inner beveled edges won't come out like that, because the router bit is ~2mm and can't make a tight square corner.

I'm having a 3rd party assemble them, but I'm probably de-panelizing them myself.  Its okay if the inner beveled edges aren't perfect, but keeping those cleaner might be one reason to add tabs/gaps between the boards.  I guess what I'm really looking for here are some good practical examples of how to handle this, given that I don't expect metal core PCBs to just "pop apart" as easily as FR4 given a similar v-score.

[incf]

I'd wonder if the components might get damaged from trying to separate the boards out by hand. (not sure about the stiffness or depth of scoring)

no access to a depanelizer machine? I guess you could screw a section of it down to a fixture. Or make specially shaped soft jaws for a vise.

tab and slot is probably friendlier to deal with by hand if you don't mind the rough edges.

I've wanted to make use of these sorts of copper core PCBs for a while now, but always have been put off by the cost. It'll be interesting to see how it works out.