Analysis of high speed shear characteristics of Sn-Ag-Cu solder joints

A high speed shear test for Sn-Ag-Cu(3.0 wt %Sn and 0.5 wt % Ag) solder has been studied by varying shearing rate, tip height and solder volume. Failure mode analysis of the solder joint revealed that ductile and brittle failure modes coexist when the shearingspeed is 500 mm/s or higher. The higher the shearing rate, the fewer the ductile failures and the more brittle or mixed failures have been observed. Tip height variation does not have astrong impact on failure mode, but occasions for pad lift appeared to be strongly related with tip height conditions. While the maximum shear force does not provide any indication of the failure mechanism, careful analysis of the force-displacement curves showed the potential of area related indices as a method to analyze the various failure modes.