Authored By:
John Vivari
Nordson EFD LLC
East Providence, RI USA
Transcript
By choosing the right solder paste for the application, you will achieve the highest process consistency and solder joint quality. Quality is maximized by choosing a paste that has the best performance with the materials, geometry and heating processes used to manufacture a product. Throughput is maximized by picking a solder product that accommodates the optimal deposition and heating methods. Quality and throughput play key roles in cost control. Not all solder products are created equal, even if they seem the same according to their classification. Specialty solder pastes provide enhanced performance over off the shelf products. There are differences in wetting characteristics, void control, flux residue, alloy strength, alloy flexibility, and other performance measures that can all play significant roles in achieving quality, throughput, and cost goals. The key is to identify the solder product that best accommodates the processes required to meet these goals. This paper covers the most significant issues in solder paste selection to meet the goals of manufacturing.
Summary
Choosing a solder paste can make or break an assembly process. By choosing the right solder paste for the application, you will achieve the highest process consistency and solder joint quality.
This paper covers the most significant issues in solder paste selection to meet the goals of manufacturing. The goals of any assembly operation are to maximize both quality and throughput while controlling costs.
Quality is maximized by choosing a paste that has the best performance with the materials, geometry and heating processes used to manufacture a product. Throughput is maximized by picking a solder product that accommodates the optimal deposition and heating methods. Cost of production is a complex calculation that includes material, direct labor, inspection, rework, and scrap value. Quality and throughput play key roles in cost control.
Not all solder products are created equal, even if they seem the same according to their classification. Specialty solder pastes provide enhanced performance over off the shelf products. There are differences in wetting characteristics, void control, flux residue, alloy strength, alloy flexibility, and other performance measures that can all play significant rolls in achieving quality, throughput, and cost goals. The key is to identify the solder product that best accommodates the processes required to meet these goals.
Conclusions
Solder paste selection can make or break a solder joining process. Specialty solder pastes provide enhanced performance over off the shelf products. This paper covers the most significant issues in solder paste selection. There are additional details of alloy and flux performance not covered here that can be very important in the solder paste selection process. It is always worth a call to your solder products vendor to review your requirements to ensure you are using the best solder paste for the job.
Initially Published in the IPC Proceedings
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