Crack Initiation and Growth in Solder Joints Under Cyclic Shear Deformation Using Piezomechanical Actuation

Abstract

Crack initiation and growth behavior in solder joints under cyclic shear deformation using piezomechanical actuation have been investigated. Experiments were conducted on specimens that consist of piezo–ceramic plates and eutectic Sn–Pb solder bonded in a double-lap shear configuration. Specimens were tested under various frequencies and ranges of applied electric field at room temperature, and a shear-lag model using elastic–perfectly plastic solder properties was developed to characterize the mechanical response of the solder joint. Nominal plastic shear strain ranges from 0.182% to 2.69% were considered. The applied shear strains measured using digital image correlation showed agreement with shear strains from analyses. The Coffin–Manson relationship was used to characterize crack initiation, and a power law was employed for crack growth. This work shows that the fatigue characteristics of solder joints using piezomechanical actuation exhibit reasonable agreement with those using other types of testing methods and provides the framework for a new accelerated testing methodology for solder joint reliability.