Stress relaxation behavior of composite and eutectic Sn-Ag solder joints

Stress relaxation experiments were carried out at 25 C and 150 C on 96.5Sn-3.5Ag eutectic solder and Sn-Ag composite solder joints (Sn-Ag eutectic solder with 20 vol.% Cu6Sn5 reinforcements incorporated by in-situ methods). The magnitude of the stress drop during relaxation depends primarily upon the plastic shear strain imposed prior to the stress relaxation process. For sequential stress relaxation experiments that include unloading, the stress drop is nearly independent of the accumulated plastic shear strain. However, for sequential stress relaxation that does not include unloading, the stress relaxation is more dependent upon the cumulative plastic shear strain history. The stress in single shear lap joints does not relax to zero stress, as is observed in stress relaxation of bulk tension specimens, even at 150 C. Creep strain rates extracted from the relaxation data were much lower with smaller pre-strains in both eutectic Sn-Ag and composite solder joints. The stress exponent values (n) calculated from the stress relaxation test data ranged from 7 to 15 for both eutectic and composite solder joints, which were consistent with conventional creep data. These stress-relaxation behaviors can be explained on the basis of dislocation recovery processes that occur during relaxation and when specimens are unloaded.