Reliability Simulation and Life Prediction of Sn63Pb37 BGA Solder Joint Under Thermal Cycling Load

The reliability of solder joint determines whether the electronic system operates steadily and lastingly. As a common type of load, thermal stress has a non-ignorable effect on the reliability of electronic products. During the thermal cycles, the solder joints are subjected to periodic tensile and compressive stresses since the difference in thermal expansion coefficient of adjacent materials, whereby causing creep and thermal fatigue damage. As fatigue damage builds up, cracks generate and propagate continuously, which will lead to solder joint failure. In this paper, the finite element simulation method is used to simulate the stress-strain distribution in the Sn ₆₃ Pb ₃₇ BGA solder joint array under temperature cyclic loading, the position of dangerous solder joint is located, and the lifetime of solder joints is predicted through the Manson-coffin model. Furthermore, the influence of PCB thickness and solder joint height on lifetime are analyzed.