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This paper aims to present a new method to calculate the appropriate volume of solder paste necessary for the pin-in-paste (PIP) technology. By the aid of this volume calculation, correction factors have been determined, which can be used to correct the solder fillet volume obtained by an explicit expression.

The method is based on calculating the optimal solder fillet shape and profile for through-hole (TH) components with given geometrical sizes. To calculate this optimal shape of the fillet, a script was written in Surface Evolver. The volume calculations were performed for different fillet radiuses (0.4-1.2 mm) and for different component lead geometries (circular and square cross-sections). Finally, the volume obtained by the Evolver calculations was divided by the volume obtained by an explicit expression, and correction factors were determined for the varying parameters.

The results showed that the explicit expression underestimates the fillet volume necessary for the PIP technology significantly (15-35 per cent). The correction factors for components with circular leads ranged between 1.4 and 1.59, whereas the correction factors for square leads ranged between 1.1 and 1.27. Applying this correction can aid in depositing the appropriate solder paste volume for TH components.

Determining the correct volume of solder paste necessary for the PIP technology is crucial to eliminate the common soldering failure of TH components (e.g. voiding or non-wetted solder pads). The explicit expression, which is widely used for volume calculation in this field, underestimates the necessary volume significantly. The new method can correct this estimation, and can aid the industry to approach zero-defect manufacturing in the PIP technology.