A VISCOPLASTIC CONSTITUTIVE MODEL FOR 60/40 TIN-LEAD SOLDER USED IN IC PACKAGE JOINTS

A new unified visco-plastic constitutive model for the 60 Sn-40 Pb alloy used in solder joints of surface-mount IC packages and semiconductor devices is proposed. The model accounts for the measured stress-dependence of the activation energy and for the strong Bauschinger effect exhibited by the solder. The latter is represented by a back stress state variable which, in turn, evolves according to a hardening-recovery equation. Based on the observed hardening behavior, it is assumed that the isotropic resistance to plastic flow does not evolve within the deformation range covered in this study (epsilon < 3 percent). The deformation phenomena associated with the solder's monotonic and steady-state cyclic responses are accurately predicted for -55-degrees-C less-than-or-equal-to T less-than-or-equal-to 150-degrees-C and 8 x 10(-2) s-1 less-than-or-equal-to epsilon less-than-or-equal-to 8 x 10(-5) s-1. The model also predicts well the overall trend of steady-state creep behavior. The constitutive model is formulated within a continuum mechanics framework and is therefore well suited for implementation into finite element or other structural codes.