A Finite Element Study of Factors Affecting Fatigue Life of Solder Joints

1994 ◽  
Vol 116 (4) ◽  
pp. 265-273 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. Paydar ◽  
Y. Tong ◽  
H. U. Akay

The elastic-plastic-creep characteristics of solder joints are implemented in a nonlinear finite element program ABAQUS by developing user defined material subroutines. An eutectic Pb-Sn solder joint of a resistor carrier under thermal cycling between 125°C and −55°C is modeled, and the effect of various parameters on the solder joint cycle life is evaluated. The strain range of the solder joint under thermal cycling loads is calculated, which is then converted into solder joint cycle life through a fatigue-life relationship proposed by Engelmaier (1983). The parameters studied include: ramp time, hold time, grain size, initial temperature, constitutive equations, material properties for solder alloys, and mesh refinement. The effects of these variations on the fatigue life of solder joints are illustrated. The described method can serve as a tool in the design and manufacturing of surface-mount (SMT) assemblies.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui YANG ◽  
Jihui Wu

Abstract The simulation of nano-silver solder joints in flip-chips is performed by the finite element software ANSYS, and the stress-strain distribution results of the solder joints are displayed. In this simulation, the solder joints use Anand viscoplastic constitutive model, which can reasonably simulate the stress and strain of solder joints under thermal cycling load. At the same time this model has been embedded in ANSYS software, so it is more convenient to use. The final simulation results show that the areas where the maximum stresses and strains occur at the solder joints are mostly distributed in the contact areas between the solder joints and the copper pillars and at the solder joints. During the entire thermal cycling load process, the area where the maximum change in stress and strain occurs is always at the solder joint, and when the temperature changes, the temperature at the solder joint changes significantly. Based on comprehensive analysis, the relevant empirical correction calculation equation is used to calculate and predict the thermal fatigue life of nano-silver solder joints. The analysis results provide a reference for the application of nano-silver solder in the electronic packaging industry.


1992 ◽  
Vol 114 (4) ◽  
pp. 472-476 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Sauber ◽  
J. Seyyedi

A power-law type creep equation has been added to finite element models to calculate solder joint response to time, temperature, and stress level. The ability of the models to predict solder joint behavior was verified by running a series of creep tests. The models were then solved to determine the solder joint creep strains which occur during thermal cycling. These creep strains were used to predict the degradation of pull strength resulting from thermal cycling. More than 8,600 solder joints were thermally cycled and then individually pull tested to verify the accuracy of the method.


1991 ◽  
Vol 226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yi-Hsin Pao ◽  
Kuan-Luen Chen ◽  
An-Yu Kuo

AbstractA nonlinear and time dependent finite element analysis was performed on two surface mounted electronic devices subjected to thermal cycling. Constitutive equations accounting for both plasticity and creep for 37Pb/63Sn and 90Pb/10Sn solders were assumed and implemented in a finite element program ABAQUS with the aid of a user subroutine. The FE results of 37Pb/63Sn solder joints were in reasonably good agreement with the experimental data by Hall [19]. In the case of 9OPb/1OSn solder in a multilayered transistor stack, the FE results showed the existence of strong peel stress near the free edge of the joint, in addition to the anticipated shear stress. The effect of such peel stress on the crack initiation and growth as a result of thermal cycling was discussed, together with the singular behavior of both shear and peel stresses near the free edge.


2001 ◽  
Vol 124 (1) ◽  
pp. 60-66 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cemal Basaran ◽  
Rumpa Chandaroy

Due to the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) mismatch between the bonded layers, the solder joint experiences cycling shear strain, which leads to short cycle fatigue. When semiconductor devices are used in a vibrating environment, additional strains shorten the fatigue life of a solder joint. Reliability of these joints in new packages is determined by laboratory tests. In order to use the FEM to replace these expensive reliability tests a unified constitutive model for Pb40/Sn60 solder joints has been developed and implemented in a thermo-viscoplastic-dynamic finite element procedure. The model incorporates thermal-elastic-viscoplastic and damage capabilities in a unified manner. The constitutive model has been verified extensively against laboratory test data. The finite element procedure was used for coupled thermo-viscoplastic-dynamic analyses for fatigue life predictions. The results indicate that using Miner’s rule to calculate accumulative damage by means of two separate analyses, namely dynamic and thermo-mechanical, significantly underestimates the accumulative total damage. It is also shown that a simultaneous application of thermal and dynamic loads significantly shortens the fatigue life of the solder joint. In the microelectronic packaging industry it is common practice to ignore the contribution of vibrations to short cycle fatigue life predictions. The results of this study indicate that damage induced in the solder joints by vibrations have to be included in fatigue life predictions to accurately estimate their reliability.


1990 ◽  
Vol 112 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-146 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. K. Charles ◽  
G. V. Clatterbaugh

An extensive finite element modeling and experimental testing program has been carried out to determine the most optimum design parameters for solder joints in surface mount applications. Although the analysis and testing (power cycling and thermal cycling) has been carried out for a variety of package styles, particular attention will be paid to the result for leadless ceramic chip carriers. This package is particularly useful in certain high performance military and commercial applications. Analysis and experimentation indicate that increased fatigue life under power cycling can be attained by fabricating solder joints with large fillets and low standoff heights. The large fillet geometry significantly reduces harmful stress concentrations while increasing the net cross-sectional area within the joint. Both factors tend to improve the fracture toughness of the joint. The temperature and frequency dependencies of solder joint fatigue life under power cycling testing is discussed. The observed frequency dependence can be minimized by eliminating harmful tensile strain components thus reducing harmful stress relaxation and tensile induced oxygen embrittlement of grain boundaries. Temperature cycling studies indicate joints with slightly higher standoffs and low fillet angles are more resistant to cyclic fatigue than pillar type joints which tend to focus shear strains at the interfaces. Solder joints can be tapered to improve overall reliability but, in most cases, tapering will provide only a small increase in fracture toughness of the joint through the elimination of stress concentrations. Additional fatigue life increases can be obtained only through an enlargement of the joint cross-sectional area. Aspects of the above results will be presented in detail along with design guidelines for creating high reliability solder joints for various application scenarios.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Yang ◽  
Jihui Wu

Abstract The simulation of nano-silver solder joints in flip-chips is performed by the finite element software ANSYS, and the stress-strain distribution results of the solder joints are displayed. In this simulation, the solder joints use Anand viscoplastic constitutive model, which can reasonably simulate the stress and strain of solder joints under thermal cycling load. At the same time this model has been embedded in ANSYS software, so it is more convenient to use. The final simulation results show that the areas where the maximum stresses and strains occur at the solder joints are mostly distributed in the contact areas between the solder joints and the copper pillars and at the solder joints. During the entire thermal cycling load process, the area where the maximum change in stress and strain occurs is always at the solder joint, and when the temperature changes, the temperature at the solder joint changes significantly. Based on comprehensive analysis, the relevant empirical correction calculation equation is used to calculate and predict the thermal fatigue life of nano-silver solder joints. The analysis results provide a reference for the application of nano-silver solder in the electronic packaging industry.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (4) ◽  
pp. 228-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. U. Akay ◽  
N. H. Paydar ◽  
A. Bilgic

Fatigue lives of thermally loaded solder joints are predicted using the finite element method. An appropriate constitutive relation to model the time-dependent inelastic deformation of the near-eutectic solder is implemented into a commercial finite element code, and the stress-strain responses of different electronic assemblies under the applied temperature cycles are calculated. The finite element analysis results are coupled with a newly developed approach for fatigue life predictions by using a volume-weighted averaging technique instead of an approach based on the maximum stress and strain locations in the solder joint. Volume-weighted average stress and strain results of three electronic assemblies are related to the corresponding experimental fatigue data through least-squares curve-fitting analyses for determination of the empirical coefficients of two fatigue life prediction criteria. The coefficients thus determined predict the mean cycles-to-failure value of the solder joints. Among the two prediction criteria, the strain range criterion uses the inelastic shear strain range and the total strain energy criterion uses the total inelastic strain energy calculated over a stabilized loading cycle. The obtained coefficients of the two fatigue criteria are applied to the finite element analysis results of two additional cases obtained from the literature. Good predictions are achieved using the total strain energy criterion, however, the strain range criterion underestimated the fatigue life. It is concluded that the strain information alone is not sufficient to model the fatigue behavior but a combination of stress and strain information is required, as in the case of total inelastic strain energy. The superiority of the volume-weighted averaging technique over the maximum stress and strain location approach is discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 143 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Minghong Jian ◽  
Sinan Su ◽  
Sa'd Hamasha ◽  
Mohammad M. Hamasha ◽  
Atif Alkhazali

Abstract The reliability of solder joints plays a critical role in electronic assemblies. SnAgCu solder alloys with doped elements such as Bi and Sb is one of the candidates for high reliability applications. However, the mechanical and fatigue properties of the actual solder joint structure have not been studied for these new alloys. In this paper, a cyclic fatigue test was conducted on individual real solder joints of different alloys, including SnAgCu, SnCu–Bi, SnAgCu–Bi, and SnAgCu–BiSb. The fatigue property of those solder joints was analyzed based on the characteristic fatigue life and stress–strain, hysteresis, loops. The results show that solder joints with both Ag and Bi content have a better fatigue resistance than the solder joints with Ag or Bi content only. The results of SnAgCu and SnCu–Bi solder alloys show similar fatigue performance. Also, the fatigue performance of SnAgCu–Bi is close to SnAgCu–BiSb in the accelerated test. But the SnAgCu–Bi alloy is estimated to have a longer characteristic life under low-stress amplitude cycling. The microstructure analysis shows a bismuth-rich phase formed around the Ag3Sn precipitates. Adding bismuth in the solder alloy can significantly improve the fatigue properties through solid solution hardenings. On another hand, the plastic strain range and work dissipation were measured from the hysteresis loops for all tests. The Morrow Energy and the Coffin–Manson models were developed from the fitted data to predict the fatigue life as a function of work dissipation and plastic strain range.


Author(s):  
Guo-Quan Lu ◽  
Xingsheng Liu ◽  
Sihua Wen ◽  
Jesus Noel Calata ◽  
John G. Bai

There has been a significant research effort on area-array flip-chip solder joint technology in order to reduce package footprint, enhance current handling capability, and improve heat dissipation. However, there is a lingering concern over cyclic fatigue of solder alloys by thermo-mechanical stresses arising from mismatched thermal expansion coefficients of expansion among the various components of the package. In this paper, some strategies taken to improve the reliability of solder joints on power devices in single-device and multi-chip packages are presented. A strategy for improving solder joint reliability by adjusting solder joint geometry, underfilling and utilization of flexible substrates is discussed with emphasis on triple-stacked solder joints that resemble the shape of an hourglass. The hourglass shape relocates the highest inelastic strain away from the weaker interface with the chip to the bulk region of the joint while the underfill provides a load transfer from the joints. Flexible substrates can deform to relieve thermo-mechanical stresses. Thermal cycling data show significant improvements in reliability when these techniques are used. The design, testing, and finite-element analyses of an interconnection structure, termed the Dimple-Array Interconnect (DAI), for improving the solder joint reliability is also presented. In the DAI structure, a solder is used to join arrays of dimples pre-formed on a metal sheet onto the bonding pads of a device. Finite-element thermo-mechanical analyses and thermal cycling data show that the dimple-array solder joints are more fatigue-resistant than the conventional barrel-shaped solder joints in flip-chip IC packages.


2011 ◽  
Vol 264-265 ◽  
pp. 1660-1665
Author(s):  
Yong Cheng Lin ◽  
Yu Chi Xia

More and more solder joints in circuit boards and electronic products are changing to lead free solder, placing an emphasis on lead free solder joint reliability. Solder joint fatigue failure is a serious reliability concern in area array technologies. In this study, the effects of substrate materials on the solder joint thermal fatigue life were investigated by finite element model. Accelerated temperature cycling loading was imposed to evaluate the reliability of solder joints. The thermal strain/stress in solder joints of flip chip assemblies with different substrates was compared, and the fatigue life of solder joints were evaluated by Darveaux’s crack initiation and growth model. The results show the mechanisms of substrate flexibility on improving solder joint thermal fatigue.


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