Estimating the Vibration Fatigue Life of Quad Leaded Surface Mount Components

1993 ◽  
Vol 115 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. B. Barker ◽  
Y. S. Chen ◽  
A. Dasgupta

This paper discusses the assumptions and details of the fatigue life calculations required to predict the fatigue life of quad leaded surface mount components operating in a vibration environment. A simple approximate stress analysis is presented that does not require complex finite element modeling, nor does it reduce the problem to a simple empirical equation or rule of thumb. The goal of the new method is to make PWB vibration solder joint reliability information available to the designer as early as possible and in an easily understood and implemented manner.

Author(s):  
Weidong Xie ◽  
Mudasir Ahmad

Solder joint reliability of Pb-free ball grid array (BGA) components, one of the most commonly used microelectronic devices, is one of the major concerns in product development and qualification. Accelerated Thermal Cycling (ATC) testing, though very time consuming and costly, remains the most prevalent means to evaluate solder joint reliability under certain end-use conditions. Wherever the test results are not readily available, a fine-tuned and well-benchmarked modeling methodology is of significance in producing quick-turn judgments and risk assessments to expedite product development. The two most critical elements in simulating solder joint reliability are 1) the solder constitutive equations, which describe the solder creep behavior under different working conditions, and 2) the fatigue model which ties the damage index from finite element modeling together with the experimental results. In this study, a novel approach has been explored in which the constants of the constitutive equation and fatigue model for Sn-based Pb-free solder joints were derived inversely based on ATC results of a ceramic BGA test vehicle. In order to cover the typical end-use conditions of the targeted products, the test vehicle was assembled onto PCBs with two different thicknesses and then thermal cycled under three different temperature profiles. The basic idea was that all of the constants, both for the constitutive equation and the fatigue life prediction model, were initially given as a range. Then by utilizing modeFrontier®, a multi-objective optimization software, the finite-element model was coupled with the virtual optimization algorithm to derive simultaneously all the constants that yielded the best fatigue life predictions compared to the test results. To simplify the problem without compromising the generality, a hyperbolic sine creep constitutive equation and Coffin-Manson fatigue model were selected in the analysis. There were a total of 6 constants to be determined; the initial ranges of the constants were defined by fitting the creep experimental data for a variety of Sn-based solder materials. Available in other publications, the selected solder materials cover a wide range of both Ag and Cu content which therefore represent the typical behavior of the most commonly adopted solder materials by the industry. To reduce the computational cost and enable fast convergence of multiple-generation iterations required by the multiple objective optimization algorithms, a very-well benchmarked submodel has been employed. Furthermore, by utilizing ANSYS® high performance computing (HPC) capability and cloud computing, the computational time was reduced significantly. An overall good correlation was achieved between the fatigue life prediction using the constants derived by this approach and the test characteristic life.


Author(s):  
Chang-Chun Lee ◽  
Kuo-Ning Chiang

For the purpose of enhancing the solder joint reliability of a wafer level chip scaling package (WLCSP), the WLCSP adopted the familiar design structure where both the stress compliant layer with low elastic modulus and the dummy solder joints are considered as structural supports. However, the predicted fatigue life of the solder joints at the internal part of the packaging structure using the conventional procedures of finite element simulation are higher than under actual conditions as a result of the perfect bonding assumption in the modeling. In this research, in order to improve the thermo-mechanical reliability of the solder joints, a node tie-release crack prediction technique, based on non-linear finite element analysis (FEA), is developed and compared with the estimation of the solder joint reliability using conventional methodology. The predicted results of reliability, using the novel prediction technique, show a lower fatigue life of the solder joint than that when using conventional one when the fracture regions in the dummy solder joints are simulated under quasi-steady state. At the same time, the result of the thermal cycling test also shows good agreement with the simulated result when using the proposed node tie-release crack prediction analysis.


Author(s):  
Mohammad Masum Hossain ◽  
Dereje Agonafer ◽  
Puligandla Viswanadham ◽  
Tommi Reinikainen

The life-prediction modeling of an electronic package requires a sequence of critical assumptions concerning the finite element models. The solder structures accommodate the bulk of the plastic strain that is generated during accelerated temperature cycling due to the thermal expansion mismatch between the various materials that constitute the package. Finite element analysis is extensively used for simulating the effect of accelerated temperature cycling on electronic packages. There are a number of issues that need to be addressed to improve the current FEM models. One of the limitations inherent to the presently available models is the accuracy in property values of eutectic 63Sn/37Pb solder or other solder materials (i.e. 62Sn/36Pb/2Ag). Life prediction methodologies for high temperature solders (90Pb/10Sn, 95Pb/5Sn, etc.) or lead-free based inter-connects materials, are almost non-existent due to their low volume use or relative infancy. [1] Another major limitation for the models presently available is excluding the effect of intermetallic compound (Cu6Sn5, Cu3Sn) formation and growth between solder joint and Cu pad due to the reflow processes, rework and during the thermal aging. The mechanical reliability of these intermetallic compounds clearly influences the mechanical integrity of the interconnection. The brittle failures of solder balls have been identified with the growth of a number of intermetallic compounds both at the interfaces between metallic layers and in the bulk solder balls. In this paper, the effect of intermetallic compound in fatigue life prediction using finite element modeling is described. A Chip Scale Package 3D Quarter model is chosen to do the FE analysis. Accelerated temperature cycling is performed to obtain the plastic work due to thermal expansion mismatch between the various materials. Solder joint fatigue life prediction methodologies were incorporated so that finite element simulation results were translated into estimated cycles to failure. The results are compared with conventional models that do not include intermetallic effects. Conventionally available material properties are assumed for the eutectic 63Sn/37Pb solder and the intermetallic material properties. The importance of including intermetallic effect in finite element modeling will be discussed.


1997 ◽  
Vol 119 (3) ◽  
pp. 183-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Darbha ◽  
S. Ling ◽  
A. Dasgupta

Recently, accelerated testing of surface mount interconnects under combined temperature and vibration environments has been recognized to be a necessary activity to ensure enhanced test-time compression. Successful use of vibration stresses requires a clear understanding of the correlation between vibrational damage and thermomechanical damage in surface mount solder joints. Hence, fatigue due to vibrational loading is important and accurate quantitative models are required to model effects due to vibrational fatigue. The proposed analysis in this paper contributes towards development of such quantitative models. This paper presents an approximate method to analyze stresses in surface mount solder joints subjected to vibration loading, using a generalized multidomain Rayleigh-Ritz approach (Ling and Dasgupta, 1995). The advantage of this approach is in its computational efficiency, compared to general-purpose finite element methods. Ling developed this approach in the context of thermomechanical stress analysis of solder joints. In this paper, the technique is modified and adapted for analyzing stresses caused by out-of-plane flexural dynamic modes of the printed wiring boards (PWBs). The analysis uses a two-step procedure where the local PWB curvatures are first estimated and the resulting deformations in the solder interconnect are then determined. The input boundary conditions for the first step are the bending moments in the PWB due to random vibrations. The stiffness of the interconnect assembly is then predicted using an energy method and curved-beam analysis. The bending moment and the computed stiffness of the interconnect assembly are then used to predict the local curvature of the PWB under any given surface-mount component by using an eigenfunction technique developed by Suhir (Suhir, 1988). In the second step of the analysis, the local curvature of the PWB is used as a boundary condition to predict the state of deformations, stresses, and strains in the solder joint using a modified version of the multidomain Rayleigh-Ritz approach. The overall method is applied to a specific example (J-lead solder joint) for illustrative purposes, and compared to finite element predictions for validation.


Author(s):  
Mohammad Motalab ◽  
Muhannad Mustafa ◽  
Jeffrey C. Suhling ◽  
Jiawei Zhang ◽  
John Evans ◽  
...  

The microstructure, mechanical response, and failure behavior of lead free solder joints in electronic assemblies are constantly evolving when exposed to isothermal aging and/or thermal cycling environments. Traditional finite element based predictions for solder joint reliability during thermal cycling accelerated life testing are based on solder constitutive equations (e.g. Anand viscoplastic model) and failure models (e.g. energy dissipation per cycle model) that do not evolve with material aging. Thus, there will be significant errors in the calculations with lead free SAC alloys that illustrate dramatic aging phenomena. In this research, we have developed a new reliability prediction procedure that utilizes constitutive relations and failure criteria that incorporate aging effects, and then validated the new approach through correlation with thermal cycling accelerated life testing experimental data. As a part of this work, a revised set off Anand viscoplastic stress-strain relations for solder have been developed that included material parameters that evolve with the thermal history of the solder material. The effects of aging on the nine Anand model parameters have been determined as a function of aging temperature and aging time, and the revised Anand constitutive equations with evolving material parameters have been implemented in commercial finite element codes. In addition, new aging aware failure criteria have been developed based on fatigue data for lead free solder uniaxial specimens that were aged at elevated temperature for various durations prior to mechanical cycling. Using the measured fatigue data, mathematical expressions have been developed for the evolution of the solder fatigue failure criterion constants with aging, both for Coffin-Manson (strain-based) and Morrow-Darveaux (dissipated energy based) type fatigue criteria. Similar to the findings for mechanical/constitutive behavior, our results show that the failure data and associated fatigue models for solder joints are affected significantly by isothermal aging prior to cycling. After development of the tools needed to include aging effects in solder joint reliability models, we have then applied these approaches to predict reliability of PBGA components attached to FR-4 printed circuit boards that were subjected to thermal cycling. Finite element modeling was performed to predict the stress-strain histories during thermal cycling of both non-aged and aged PBGA assemblies, where the aging at constant temperature occurred before the assemblies were subjected to thermal cycling. The results from the finite element calculations were then combined with the aging aware fatigue models to estimate the reliability (cycles to failure) for the aged and non-aged assemblies. As expected, the predictions show significant degradations in the solder joint life for assemblies that had been pre-aged before thermal cycling. To validate our new reliability models, an extensive test matrix of thermal cycling reliability testing has been performed using a test vehicle incorporating several sizes of fine pitch PBGA daisy chain components. Before thermal cycling began, the assembled test boards were divided up into test groups that were subjected to several sets of aging conditions (preconditioning) including different aging temperatures (T = 25, 55, 85 and 125 C) and different aging times (no aging, and 6 and 12 months). After aging, the assemblies were subjected to thermal cycling (−40 to +125 C) until failure occurred. As with the finite element predictions, the Weibull data failure plots have demonstrated that the thermal cycling reliabilities of pre-aged assemblies were significantly less than those of non-aged assemblies. Good correlation was obtained between our new reliability modeling procedure that includes aging and the measured solder joint reliability data.


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