Finite element simulation of the temperature cycling tests

Temperature cycling tests are commonly used in the semiconductor industry to determine the number of cycles to failure and to predict reliability of the solder joints in the surface mount technology packages. In this paper, the thermomechanical fatigue of Pb40/Sn60 solder joint in a leadless ceramic chip carrier package is studied and temperature cycling test is simulated by using a finite element procedure with the disturbed state concept (DSC) constitutive models. The progress of disturbance (damage) and the energy dissipated in the solder joint during thermal cycling are predicted. It is shown that the disturbance criterion used follows a similar path as the energy dissipation in the system. Moreover, the comparisons between the test data and the finite element analysis show that a finite element procedure using the DSC material models can be instrumental in reliability analysis and to predict the number of cycles to failure of a solder joint. Furthermore, the analysis gives a good picture of the progress of the failure mechanism and the disturbance in the solder joint.