Effect of high strain-rate on mechanical properties of SAC105 and SAC305 leadfree alloys

Electronics may experience high strain rates when subjected to high g-loads of shock and vibration. Material and damage behavior of electronic materials at high strain rates typical of shock and vibration is scarce. Previously studies have shown that second-level interconnects have a high propensity for failure under shock and vibration loads in fine pitch electronics. Exposure to shock and vibration is common in a variety of consumer environments such as automotive and portable electronics. The low strain-rate properties of commonly used SnAgCu solders, including Sn1Ag0.5Cu and Sn3Ag0.5Cu, have been found to evolve with time after prolonged exposure to high temperatures. High strain rate properties of leadfree solder alloys in the strain-rate range of 1-100 sec-1 are scarce. Previous attempts at characterizing the high strain rates properties have focused on the use of the Split Hopkinson Pressure Bar (SHPB), which enables measurements of strain rates in the neighborhood of 1000 per sec. In this paper, a new test-technique developed by the authors has been presented for measurement of material constitutive behavior. The instrument enables attaining strain rates in the neighborhood of 1 to 100 per sec. Tests are conducted at strain rates 10, 35 and 50 per sec. High speed cameras operating at 75,000 fps have been used in conjunction with digital image correlation for the measurement of full-field strain during the test. Constancy of cross-head velocity has been demonstrated during the test from the unloaded state to the specimen failure. Solder alloy constitutive behavior has been measured for SAC105, SAC305 solders. Non-linear Ramberg-Osgood model has been used to fit the material data. The Ramberg-Osgood model available in Abaqus has been used for tensile test simulation and to correlate with DIC based experimental strain data.