Chapter1 3 1. Design for Manufacturing of Electro-Mechanical Assemblies in the Aerospace Industry

Abstract Electronic design engineers struggle continuously to obtain a satisfactory trade-off between item performance and cost. On one hand, they would like to employ the best material and components available on the market and opt for time-consuming manufacturing processes in order to obtain high-performance parts. On the other hand, such choice would lead to high recurring cost making the part less attractive in the market. In this scenario, industrial engineering team becomes a crucial industrial entity. It assists the Design Engineers by providing design rules or guidelines. This guidance is intended to provide recommendation to the development team in order to define what is technically feasible and achievable inside an industrial process contest. These rules should not be too strict in order to guarantee acceptable part performance and therefore market attractiveness. The rules contain guidelines on mechanical, process and material aspects. This chapter will focus on design for manufacturing of electro-mechanical parts for the aerospace industry typically being a high-end and high-performance part. Nevertheless, cost and time remain a key aspect to guarantee. The effects of such rules on mechanical and electrical performance will be highlighted and discusses, with a specific focus ion high frequency electrical assemblies (1–30 GHz). It will also contain a review on microelectronic production techniques that impact on the part’s electrical performance.