Creep-fatigue life prediction of in situ composite solders

Eutectic tin-lead solder alloys subjected to cyclic loading at room temperature experience creep-fatigue interactions due to high homologous temperature. Intermetallic reinforcements of Ni3Sn4 and Cu6Sn5 are incorporated into eutectic tin lead alloy by rapid solidification processes to form in Situ composite solders. In this study, the in situ composite solders were subjected to combined creep and fatigue deformation at room temperature. Under cyclic deformation, the dominant damage mechanism of in situ composite solders is proposed to be growth of cavities. A constrained cavity growth model is applied to predict creep-fatigue life by taking into account the tensile loading component as well as the compressive loading component when reversed processes can occur. An algorithm to calculate cavity growth in each fatigue cycle is used to predict the number of fatigue cycles to failure, based on a critical cavity size of failure. Calculated lives are compared to experimental data under several fatigue histories, which include fully reversed stress-controlled fatigue, zero-tension stress-controlled fatigue, stress-controlled fatigue with tension hold time, fully reversed strain-controlled fatigue, and zero-tension strain-controlled fatigue. The model predicts the creep-fatigue lives within a factor of 2 with the incorporation of an appropriate compressive healing factor in most cases. Discrepancy between calculated lives and experimental results is discussed.