Effect of fretting in lead-free systems

Electrical performance characteristics of lead-free solders and their potential effects on the reliability of electronic connector separable interfaces is one of the problem areas that has to be addressed. Since fretting is inherent in practically all electronic and electrical connections it is the aim of this work to determine the effect of fretting in commercially available lead-free alloys. For this purpose a number of lead-free alloy wires are subjected to fretting under different conditions such as different mating materials and contact load. Following the fretting tests, the contact zones damaged by the fretting action were subjected to detailed metallographic, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analyses which, in turn, enabled to make a comparative assessment of the lead-free alloys used in respect to their susceptibility to fretting.

[1]  Palo Alto,et al.  Impact of Intermetallic Growth on the Mechanical Strength of Lead-Free BGA Assemblies , 2000 .

[2]  J. Glazer Microstructure and mechanical properties of Pb-free solder alloys for low-cost electronic assembly: A review , 1994 .

[3]  M. Braunovic Degradation of Al-Al and Al-Cu connections due to fretting , 1988 .

[4]  M. Braunovic Effect of fretting in aluminium-to-tin connections , 1989 .

[5]  A. Lee,et al.  Fretting corrosion of Tin-plated copper alloy , 1987 .

[6]  Thomas A. Siewert,et al.  Database for Solder Properties with Emphasis on New Lead-free Solders , 2002 .

[7]  M. Antler,et al.  Effect of Fretting on the Contact Resistance of Palladium , 1982 .

[8]  M. Antler Fretting Corrosion of Solder-Coated Electrical Contacts , 1984 .

[9]  R. Mccabe,et al.  The creep properties of precipitation-strengthened tin-based alloys , 2000 .

[10]  M. Pecht,et al.  Fretting corrosion studies for lead-free alloy plated contacts , 2002, 4th Electronics Packaging Technology Conference, 2002..

[11]  M. Braunovic Fretting in Ni-coated aluminum conductors , 1991 .

[12]  Abhijit Dasgupta,et al.  Micro-Mechanics of Fatigue Damage in Pb-Sn Solder Due to Vibration and Thermal Cycling , 2001 .

[13]  P. L. Ko,et al.  Experimental Studies of Tube Frettings in Steam Generators and Heat Exchangers , 1979 .

[14]  B. Moran,et al.  Creep, stress relaxation, and plastic deformation in Sn-Ag and Sn-Zn eutectic solders , 1997 .

[15]  J.B.P. Williamson Aging and self-healing in connectors: implications for accelerated testing , 1989 .