PCB STRAIN SIMULATION AND MEASUREMENT

Stress-induced solder joint failure has become a major concern for most EMS suppliers. With the increasing use of sensitive component packages like BGA, SON, DFN and QFN as well as the use of lead-free solder, a number of test steps can cause damage to solder joints. Arxtron technologies, in collaboration with its fixturing partners, use finite element analysis (FEA) software tools to predict stress levels on the PCBs inside the test fixtures and use the IPC/JEDEC-9704 standards to perform strain measurements on the PCB using strain gauge sensors (rosettes) strain and use alternative fixturing techniques and components to improve problematic designs and processes.