The Bent Pin Problem—II: Matrix Methods

Abstract

In this chapter, the second on the bent pin problem, matrix methods will be used to enumerate the shortest conducting short-circuit paths between any two pins in a complex connector that undergoes a bent pin event when its two halves are joined. Only shortest paths are of interest in this chapter since these are most likely to form during a bent pin event. As in the previous chapter, short-circuit probabilities can then be calculated from the number of paths found, the path length, the probability of any pin contacting its neighbor. The matrix methods presented here are easy to implement, and fail-safe, but they suffer from the drawback of not taking into account the contribution of longer paths to the total short-circuit probability. These contributions are usually small.