Abstract: Among all the recycling technologies, waste printed circuit board (PCB) disassembly based on physical methods is getting more and more attention. Based on the analysis of package types of components and assembly manners of typical PCBs, the methods of heating & desoldering and force-applying for PCB disassembly are analyzed qualitatively, and two disassembly processes suitable for PCBs of electrical products and PCBs of electronic products are proposed respectively. According to these two processes, two kinds of disassembly apparatus are developed respectively. Mainboards of waste computer and waste television are used for PCB disassembly experiments on these apparatus according to these disassembly processes. The results of experiments show that under suitable disassembly process parameters, for PCBs of electronic products, the separation ratios of through-hole devices (THD), surface mount devices (SMD) and tiny chip components are 91.6%, 100% and 99.1% respectively; for PCBs of electrical products, the separation ratio of solder joints of THD reaches 94.9%. Experimental results reinforce the idea that disassembly processes based on physical methods can dismantle PCB effectively. This research will be helpful to develop practical PCB disassembly processes and disassembly apparatus.

Key words: Disassembly, Recycling, Waste printed circuit board