Nickel effects on the structural and some physical properties of the eutectic Sn-Ag lead-free solder alloy

Abstract

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the structural, mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of tin–silver–nickel (Sn-Ag-Ni) melt-spun solder alloys. So, it aims to improve the mechanical properties of the eutectic tin–silver (Sn-Ag) such as tensile strength, plasticity and creep resistance by adding different concentrations of Ni content.Design/methodology/approachTernary melt-spun Sn-Ag-Ni alloys were investigated using x-ray diffractions, scanning electron microscope, dynamic resonance technique (DRT), Instron machine, Vickers hardness tester and differential scanning calorimetry.FindingsThe results revealed that the Ni additions 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7, 1, 3 and 5 Wt.% to the eutectic Sn-Ag melt-spun solder were added. The “0.3wt.%” of Ni was significantly improved its mechanical properties to efficiently serve under high strain rate applications. Moreover, the uniform distribution of Ag3Sn intermetallic compound with “0.3wt.%” of Ni offered the potential benefits, such as high strength, good plasticity consequently and good mechanical performance through a lack of dislocations and microvoids. The tensile results showed improvement in 17.63 per cent tensile strength (26 MPa), 21 per cent toughness (1001 J/m3), 22.83 per cent critical shear stress (25.074 MPa) and 11 per cent thermal diffusivity (2.065 × 10−7 m2/s) when compared with the tensile strength (21.416 MPa), toughness (790 J/m3), critical shear stress (19.348 MPa) and thermal diffusivity (1.487 × 10−7 m2/s) of the eutectic Sn-Ag. Slight increments have been shown for the melting temperature of Sn96.2-Ag3.5-Ni0.3 (222.62°C) and electrical resistivity to (1.612 × 10−7 Ω.m). It can be said that the eutectic Sn-Ag solder alloy has been mechanically improved with “0.3wt.%” of Ni to become a suitable alloy for high strain rate applications. The dislocation movement deformation mechanism (n = 4.5) without Ni additions changed to grain boundary sliding deformation mechanism (n = 3.5) with Ni additions. On the other hand, the elastic modulus, creep rate and strain rate sensitivity with “0.3wt.%” of Ni have been decreased. The optimum Ni-doped concentration is “0.7wt.%” of Ni in terms of refined microstructure, electrical resistivity, Young’s Modulus, bulk modulus, shear modulus, thermal diffusivity, maximum shear stress, tensile strength and average creep rate.Originality/valueThis study provides nickel effects on the structural of the eutectic Sn-Ag rapidly solidified by melt-spinning technique. In this paper, the authors have compared the elastic modulus of the melt-spun compositions which has been resulted from the tensile strength tester with these results from the DRT for the first time to best of the authors’ knowledge. This paper presents new improvements in mechanical and electrical performance.