Pad and Via size: One should
maintain the largest practical annular ring to insure a good mechanical,
as well as electrical and thermal connection. There is a wide
variety of pad sizes and shapes available to accomplish this.
Octagonal pads are far superior to round.
Eddy's rule: the pad or via size
should be 50% greater in diameter than the diameter of the
hole.
Eddy's Inverse: the hole should be
2/3 the diameter of the pad.
Plating through and
tolerances: Hole sizes should be specified as finished hole
sizes. This compensates for the loss of diameter in plating
through the hole; the hole will be around .002" smaller than
drilled. This figure represents an average that can vary by as
much as 30%. Larger holes will take more plating than small ones
as a rule and holes near the outside of a panel will also take more
copper. On the other side of the equation, the plating thickness
will be greater than the .002" decrease in hole diameter. Due to
etch-back and internal stress, you may have as much as .002" copper
thickness. This thickness on both sides of the hole adds up to
.004" total copper, yet the hole is only .002" smaller.
Obviously, one needs to be careful in
considering hole sizes, as there are a great many variables including
accuracy of hole location and tolerances within the component to be
placed.
A good practice is to allow .005" extra
hole diameter to accommodate all of these variables. This also
allows de-soldering of defective parts during
repair.