What is the correct criteria for solder joint voiding?

23 September 2011

Assembly component failures
Assembly component failures

The answer will be provided by one of the key speakers at this year’s SMART Group Conference, taking place from 5-6 October 2011, when Dave Hillman of Rockwell Collins presents ‘BGA Voids: A Final Discussion on Inspection Standards, Voids Size and Reliability’.

The subject of voids in BGA solder joints in the electronics industry was highly controversial in the late 1990s and early 2000s. One school of industry thought held is that a void in a solder joint would be a stress riser that initiated cracks, leading to solder joint failure.

An opposing school of thought was that voids act as crack arresters, which improve solder joint life. The root cause of voids in BGA solder joints is well understood by the electronics industry with a number of papers published on the topic. This presentation documents an investigation to determine the impact of voids in BGA and CSP components using thermal cycle testing (-55°C to +125°C) in accordance with the IPC-9701 specification for tin/lead solder alloys. This presentation will cover:
• Types of voids
• Industry test history of BGA voids and reliability
• A proposed BGA void requirement revision for the IPC-JSTD-001 specification

Table top exhibitors include:
• Accelonix
• Dage
• DKL Metals
• ETEK
• Fraser Technologies
• GEN3 Systems
• Henkel
• Humiseal
• Kyzen Corporation
• ZEN Production Equipment

Furthermore, OK International has announced that it will be supporting this year’s SMART Group Annual Conference & Table Top Exhibition at The Oxfordshire in Thame, England.

The exhibition provides an opportunity for OK International to showcase two products that can aid manufacturers with the challenges encountered by Area Array Technology. The Metcal MX-5000 Soldering System provides a valuable resource for electronics assembly operations and the related challenges of lead-free processes, multi-layer board and high density components.

Alongside this, the APR-5000-DZ will be on display. The system enables manufacturers to improve their ability to manage the narrow lead-free process window without using excessive peak temperatures that may damage components, connectors, adjacent solder joints and the PCB substrate.

OK International will also have industry experts on hand to demonstrate these products and explain their benefits in detail to attendees.

Andy Cotton, OK International European Product Manager , commented: “We are proud to be to be supporting this year’s SMART Group Exhibition and Conference, which not only provides organisations with the chance to network with industry colleagues but also educates people about Area Array Technology and how to overcome the most commonly faced problems. Here at OK International we are passionate about keeping up-to-date with the latest industry knowledge and feel events such as these are important in order to keep informing the industry as a whole.”


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