Stress‐rupture and Creep Behaviour of 63Sn‐37Pb Production Soldered Connections

Abstract

Quasi shear and tensile mode stress‐rupture and quasi shear mode creep behaviours were investigated for aged production surface mount soldered connections of 127 mm pitch, rigid gullwing and J‐bend configurations at ambient and 60°C (on limited specimens) environments. These joints were manufactured by the vapour phase reflow soldering process using a 63Sn‐37Pb solder composition. Metallographic examinations and fractrographic studies were also performed on appropriate specimens to characterise the metallurgical attributes of the solder and the joint failure. A relatively coarse solder microstructure was observed with both joint configurations. The steady‐state creep data of both soldered joints exhibited two distinct creep regimes. A grain boundary‐controlled regime at low loads with a slope of 042 for gullwing and 0?50 for J‐bend joints was followed by a dislocation climb‐controlled regime at high loads with a slope of 0?13 and 0?24 for gullwing and J‐bend configurations, respectively. The log‐log plot of applied load varied linearly with rupture time for the entire load range for the respective soldered joints for both modes of testing at room temperature. A transgranular fracture morphology was found to predominate for the entire load regime for the quasi shear mode tested gullwing joints. A mixed‐mode fracture morphology with predominantly transgranular features was observed for both low and high loading conditions for quasi shear mode tested J‐bend specimens. The steady‐state creep elongation in shear showed a strong dependence on the applied load for both types of soldered joints. This was primarily attributed to the presence of relatively large creep transients, especially at higher loads.