Comparison of results from empirical ALT test to CAE simulation for wireless clients

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate how to reduce the time and cost required to conduct reliability testing. With increasing competition in the electronics industry and reduction in product life cycles, it is essential to diminish the time required for new product development and thus time to market.

Design/methodology/approach

This study conducts empirical sample test for wireless card and analyzes the fatigue life through finite element modeling (FEM). Simulation results are compared to the data collected from a temperature cycling test under conditions of −40°C to 150°C and −40°C to 100°C.

Findings

Assuming that the results of product lifetime from empirical sample test and software simulation exhibit a linear relationship, a “scale factor” should exist for any given product structure, process condition and materials composition scenario. The scale factors were found to be approximately 0.1 in both temperature cycling scenarios. Also, the effectiveness of various adhesive dispensing patterns on solder joint reliability is evaluated through software simulation. The L shape adhesive dispensing was proven to effectively enhance the fatigue life of chip scale package solder joints roughly 100‐fold.

Originality/value

The scale factor is used to convert the results from software simulation to empirical sample test for a given set of processing environments and materials. This helps to reduce the time and cost required to conduct reliability testing.

Citation

Huang, C. and Huang, H. (2011), "Comparison of results from empirical ALT test to CAE simulation for wireless clients", Microelectronics International, Vol. 28 No. 3, pp. 51-59. https://doi.org/10.1108/13565361111162639