The influence of heat treatment on properties of lead-free solders

The article is focused on the analysis of degradation of properties of two eutectic lead-free solders SnCu0.7 and SnAg3.5Cu0.7. The microstructures of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layers at the copper substrate - solder interface were examined before and after heat treatment at 150°C for 50, 200, 500 and 1000 hours. The thickness of IMC layers of the Cu6Sn5 phase was growing with the increasing time of annealing and shown the typical scallops. For the heat treatment times of 200 hours and longer, the Cu3Sn IMC layers located near the Cu substrate were also observed. The experiments showed there is a link between the thickness of IMC layers and decrease of the shear strength of solder joints. In general, the joints made of the ternary solder showed higher shear strength before and after heat treatment in comparison to joints from solder SnCu0.7

Unconventional order/disorder behaviour in Al–Co–Cu–Fe–Ni multi-principal element alloys after casting and annealing

The effect of Cu concentration on the order/disorder behaviour of the AlCoCuxFeNi (x = 0.6 to 3.0) multi-principal element alloys was investigated. BCC and/or FCC phases were observed in the microstructures of the alloys after casting and annealing at 1050 ◦C followed by slow cooling. Interesting is that the alloys form ordered structures after casting and disordered structures after annealing and slow cooling, while the opposite would be expected. The ordering in the as-cast state is explained by the strong affinity of Al to transition metals, which results in the formation of supercell structures having sublattices occupied by certain elements only. Disordering after annealing has two reasons. Either the phase is composed of nearly pure element (Cu) and is disordered by default or it is composed of randomly distributed nano-segregated regions within a single phase resulting in a uniform distribution of all elements in the sublattices and therefore appearing to be macroscopically disordered. The reason for the formation of such nano-segregated areas might reside in the reduction of Gibbs free energy due to the annealing by the interplay between enthalpy and entropy

Annealing Effects on the Crystallinity of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polyetheretherketone and Polyohenylene Laminate Composites Manufactured by Laser Automatic Tape Placement

In situ consolidation of thermoplastic composites by Automated Tape Placement (ATP) is challenging. High quality ATP grade pre-preg material and tape head equipped with an efficient heat sources like lasers offer an opportunity towards high deposition rates and improved mechanical properties of composite materials. In this study uni-directional carbon fiber/ polyphenylene sulfide (UD tape prepreg CF/PPS), carbon fiber/polyetheretherketone (UD tape prepreg CF/PEEK) as well as blend of carbon fiber/polyetheretherketone/polyphenylene sulfide (UD tapes prepregs CF/PEEK/PPS) laminates are compared in terms of their properties after beeing processed by ATP technology. CF/PPS, CF/PEEK and blend CF/PPS/PEEK laminate specimens were processed using in-situ laser-assisted ATP (LATP) process. LATP processing parameters used in this study were chosen based on a preliminary trials; the results provide a basis for refinement of these parameters and prepreg material with an optimal and balanced set of final mechanical properties. This study showed an attempt how to manage the processing parameters for LATP process and to obtain composite materials with tailored properties. The process for production of thermoplastic plates with LATP head in general is a process that is governed by many parameters such as: laser power, angle of incidence, roller pressure and temperature, placement speed, tool temperature, then types of the roller material and the tool material. These parameters are not subject of discussing in this paper; they are kept constant, and the goal of the paper is to manage the crystallinity level within the composite thermoplastic material during annealing step at different temperatures after LATP process. Also, the void content during the production process could be controlled. More particularly, the authors showed that composites based on PPS matrix manufactured with LATP process possess higher flexural strength, with less void content compared to samples based on PEEK matrix. These samples showed also higher crystallinity after annealing step. Keywords: thermoplasts, laser-assisted automated tape placement (LATP), degree of crystallinity, void content, flexural strength

The influence of heat treatment on properties of lead-free solders

The article is focused on the analysis of degradation of properties of two eutectic lead-free solders SnCu0.7 and SnAg3.5Cu0.7. The microstructures of the intermetallic compound (IMC) layers at the copper substrate - solder interface were examined before and after heat treatment at 150°C for 50, 200, 500 and 1000 hours. The thickness of IMC layers of the Cu6Sn5 phase was growing with the increasing time of annealing and shown the typical scallops. For the heat treatment times of 200 hours and longer, the Cu3Sn IMC layers located near the Cu substrate were also observed. The experiments showed there is a link between the thickness of IMC layers and decrease of the shear strength of solder joints. In general, the joints made of the ternary solder showed higher shear strength before and after heat treatment in comparison to joints from solder SnCu0.7

Properties of Sn-Ag-Cu Solder Joints Prepared by Induction Heating

In the present work, one near-eutectic and three hypoeutectic Sn-Ag-Cu alloys have been employed for soldering by induction heating. The alloys were produced by induction melting of high purity Ag, Cu, and Sn lumps. The melting behavior of the alloys was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry. The solder alloys were subsequently applied for soldering by conventional hot-plate heating as well as induction heating and both soldering times and peak temperatures were recorded during soldering. Solder joints of two copper sheets were produced. The electrical resistance, tensile strength, and microstructure were analyzed on each soldered joint. The results indicate that the physical and mechanical properties of solder joints are determined by their chemical composition and soldering technology. Induction soldered joints not only have a slightly higher electrical resistivity but also higher mechanical strength, except of the 0.3 wt.% Ag hypoeutectic solder. The highest increase in ultimate tensile strength (28%) was observed for induction soldered joints with 1 wt.% Ag hypoeutectic solder. This effect is ascribed to the homogenous distribution of the intermetallic compounds within the eutectic in the alloy microstructure. The homogenous distribution is aided by rotation of liquid solder due to eddy currents and high-frequency magnetic field generated during induction heating

Brushite mineralised Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) sapwood – revealing mineral crystallization withina wood matrix by in situ XRD

Dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (CaHPO4·2H2O, DCPD, brushite) crystals were synthesised within Scots pine sapwood via a wet-chemistry route from aqueous solutions of Ca(CH3COO)2 and NH4H2PO4 salts. SEM/EDS analysis was used to assess the saturation of the wood cell lumina and cell wall as well as morphological features and elemental composition of the co-precipitated mineral. Brushite mineral crystallization and crystallite growth within the wood matrix was studied by in situ XRD. The chemical composition of the mineral before and after the dissolution was evaluated using FTIR spectroscopy. The overall impact of brushite on the thermal behaviour of wood was studied by TGA/DSC and TGA/DTA/MS analysis under oxidative and pyrolytic conditions. Bending and compression strength perpendicular and parallel to the fibre directions as well as bending strengths in longitudinal and transverse directions of the mineralised wood were also evaluated. Results indicate the viability of the wet-chemistry processing route for wood reinforcement with crystalline calcium phosphate (CaP)-based minerals, and imply a potential in producing hybrid bio-based materials that could be attractive in the construction sector as an environmentally friendly building material.Validerad;2023;Nivå 2;2023-02-16 (hanlid);Funder:  FCT/MEC (PIDDAC) (UIDB/50011/2020,UIDP/50011/2020, LA/P/0006/2020)</p