This paper presents a comprehensive study of the resistance of solder joints to failure when subjected to strain rates that simulate the conditions of drop impact experienced by a portable electronic product. Two test methods are used in this study: the board-level drop-shock test (BLDST) and the board-level high-speed cyclic bend test (HSCBT). The performance of (i) 12 material combinations consisting of six solder alloys and two pad finishes, and (ii) 11 manufacturing variations covering three vendors, two finishes, three immersion gold thicknesses, and three thermal aging conditions were investigated using these two test methods. Correlations between the two test methods were performed. Quantitative correlation and sensitivity coefficients for the failure modes and the measured characteristic parameters—number of drops to failure for BLDST and number of cycles to failure for HSCBT—were evaluated. Finally, the potential of HSCBT as a test method for material selection and for bridging board-level and product-level tests was demonstrated through generation of board strain versus number of cycles to failure (S–N) curves of solder joints for six material systems, four bending frequencies, and two test temperatures.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Joint Electron Device Engineering Council Standard JESD22-B111 (2003).
E.H. Wong, K.M. Lim, N. Lee, S. Seah, C. Koh, and J. Wang, Proc. 4th Electron. Packag. Technol. Conf. (Singapore, 2002), pp. 327–333.
J. Varghese and A. Dasgupta, Proc. ASME Int. Mech. Eng. Congress & Exposition, IMECE2003-41844 (Washington, DC, 2003), pp. 1–7.
D. Reiff and E. Bradley, Proc. 55th Electron. Comp. Technol. Conf. (Orlando, FL, 2005), pp. 1519–1525.
K. Nakado, A. Yaguchi, T. Terasaki, K. Yamamoto. JSME Int. J. Ser. A 49, 220 (2006) doi:10.1299/jsmea.49.220
P. Marjamäki, T.T. Mattila, and J.K. Kivilahti, Proc. 56th Electron. Comp. Technol. Conf. (San Diego, CA, 2006), pp. 95–101.
S·K.W. Seah, E.H. Wong, Y.-W. Mai, R. Rajoo, and C.T. Lim, Proc. 56th Electron. Comp. Technol. Conf. (San Diego, CA, 2006), pp. 1003–1008.
T. Pringle, P. Raghavan, and P. Malatkar, Proc. 57th Electron. Comp. Technol. Conf. (Orlando, FL, 2007), pp. 400–406.
S. Ishikawa, M. Nagatake, Y. Higashiguchi, and K. Mishiro, Proc. 11th Comput. Mech. Conf. (1998), pp. 523–524 (in␣Japanese).
O. Ido, M. Nagatake, N. Itoh, K. Mishiro, and Y. Hiroshima, Proc. Annual Meeting of the MMD (2000), pp. 529–530 (in Japanese).
T. Sogo and S. Hara, Proc. Int. Conf. Electron. Packag. (Tokyo, Japan, 2001), pp. 369–373.
I. Hirata, Proc. Int. Conf. Electron. Packag. (Tokyo, Japan, 2001), pp. 422–426.
E.H. Wong, S·K.W. Seah, V·P.W. Shim. Microelectron. Reliab. 48, 1747 (2008) doi:10.1016/j.microrel.2008.08.006
E.H. Wong, C.S. Selvanayagam, S.K.W. Seah, W.D. Van Driel, J.F.J.M. Caers, X.J. Zhao, N. Owens, L.C. Tan, D.R. Frear, M. Leoni, Y.-S. Lai, C.-L. Yeh. J. Electron. Mater. 37, 829 (2008) doi:10.1007/s11664-008-0403-x
M.A. Meyers, Dynamic Behavior of Materials (Wiley, New York, 1994).
T.C. Chiu, K. Zeng, R. Stierman, D. Edwards, and K. Ano, Proc. 54th Electron. Comp. Technol. Conf. (Las Vegas, NV, 2004), pp. 1256–1262.
E.H. Wong, Y.-W. Mai, S.K.W. Seah, K.M. Lim, T.B. Lim. IEEE Trans. Adv. Packag. 30, 654 (2007) doi:10.1109/TADVP.2007.898599
E.H. Wong and C.K. Wong, IEEE Trans. Compon. Packag. Tech. 31, 790 (2008).
Acknowledgements
The authors wish to thank Darrel Frear of Freescale for his valuable advice in analyzing the test results and preparing the manuscript. The authors also acknowledge the contributions of the industry attachment students, L.S. Heng and J.L.L. Nuqui of Temasek Polytechnic, Singapore, in generating the experimental data for the S–N characteristics of solder joint of Fig. 20.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wong, E., Seah, S., Selvanayagam, C. et al. High-Speed Cyclic Bend Tests and Board-Level Drop Tests for Evaluating the Robustness of Solder Joints in Printed Circuit Board Assemblies. J. Electron. Mater. 38, 884–895 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-008-0610-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11664-008-0610-5