July2011DRAFT DOCUMENT FOR INDUSTRY CONSENSUS REVIEW ONLY

IPCWP011

GuidanceforStrainGageLimitsforPrintedCircuitAssemblies

1SCOPE

ThisdocumentdescribesspecificguidanceforstraingagelimitsforPrintedCircuitAssemblies(PCAs)inthe
printedboardmanufacturingprocessincludingassembly,test,systemintegration,andshipping.

ThedocumentismeanttobeusedinconjunctionwiththestraingageproceduredescribedinIPC/JEDEC9704.

Thisguidanceassumesasurfacemountdevice;BallGridArray(BGA),SmallOutlinePackage(SOP)andChipScale
(Size)Package(CSP)aretypicaldeviceexamples.DiscreteSurfaceMountTechnology(SMT)devices,(e.g.,
capacitors,resistors,etc.)areoutsidethescopeofthispublication.

2STRAINLIMITS

Threestrainlimitapproachesareproposedwithinthissection.Theseexamplesandlimitsaretypical,butdonot
serveasstrictguidance.Theyeachneedtobevalidatedforthespecificapplication.

Thefirstisacomponentspecificapproach,inwhichstrainlimitsandspecificgagelocationsareprovidedbythe
componentmanufacturer.Thesecondapproachisacustomerspecifiedstrainlimitagainstwhichallcomponents
arecompared.Thethirdissimilartothefirsttwo,exceptthestrainlimitvarieswithstrainrate.Theapproaches
belowarebasedontheassumptionthatthestrainlimitswillbespecifiedtotheprintedboardassemblerby
eitherthecustomerorcomponentsupplier.Intheabsenceofthesespecificationstheprintedboardassembler
mayneedtodevelopaninternalstrainlimitcriteriabasedonmeasuringthestraininducedbyknowngoodand
knownbad(damaging)processes.

ComponentSupplierThecomponentspecificapproachisbaseduponthepremisethatthestrainlimitis
dependentuponvariablessuchassolderballpitch,packagesize,packagestiffness,soldermaterial,andprinted
boardthickness.Thecomponentmanufacturerisresponsiblefordefiningtheirtestingtechnique,gagelocation
andorientation,andstrainmetric,andprovidingallofthesetothecustomer.Thislimitshouldbebaseduponthe
strainlevelatwhichdamagebegins,ratherthanelectricalopen.

CustomerSpecifiedInthisapproach,astrainlimitisdeterminedthatappliestoallcomponentsasspecifiedby
thecustomer.Inmanycasesasinglestrainlimitmaybeappliedtoallcomponentsontheprintedboard.This
limitisbaseduponeithertestingorempiricaldata,whichdefinesacriticalstrainvalue.Asafetyfactorisusually
appliedtothisvalueinordertosetthelimit.

RateLimitedTheallowableboardstrainhasbeenobservedtobeafunctionofthestrainrateortherateatwhich
thePCAisbent.Aleastsquaresfitshouldbeusedtofitalinetotheregion,theslopeofwhichisthestrainrate
tobeusedtodeterminethestrainlimit.

Usingthemethoddescribedabovethedatapairsofstrainandstrainratemaybeplottedagainsttheprinted
boardthicknessasshowninFigure21onthefollowingpage.

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IPCWP011

Figure21TypicalExampleofAllowableStrainasaFunctionofStrainRateandPrintedBoardThicknessfor
SnPbsolder

Note:Thelimitsdonotserveasstrictguidanceandneedtobeverifiedforthespecificapplication.

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3REFERENCEFORRATELIMITEDGUIDANCE

3.1AssumptionsTheguidanceinFigure21formaximumallowablePCAstrainisbaseduponempiricalstudies,
finiteelementmodelingandanalysisofproductionfailures;however,therearenumerouslimitations,
assumptionsandsimplificationsassociatedwiththegraph.

Theempiricaldataislargelybasedupon3545mmBGAdevicesthatusedENIGsubstrateplating,eutecticSnPb
solder,andwereassembledonprintedboardswithaHotAirSolderLevel(HASL)surfacefinish,anda2mm3
mmboardthickness.PCAstrainmeasurementstypicallyweretakenimmediatelyadjacenttothecornermost
packagesolderjoints,using1.5mmx1.5mmnominalstackedrosettestraingages,andrecordedatascan
frequencyof100Hz.

FiniteElementAnalysis(FEA)assumedlinearelasticmaterialproperties,orthotropicprintedboard(FR4)
properties,eutecticSnPbsoldercomposition,andsymmetricloading.Materialpropertiesusedforthe
abovementionedFEAareasfollows:

Solder
EX2.8e6psi
ALPX24.5e6ppm/C
NUXY0.36
PrintedBoardResin Ex2.8e6psi

Ey0.5e6psi

Gxy0.2e6psi
Gyz0.2e6psi
Gxz1.0e6psi

Alpx14.5e6ppm/C
Alpy67.2e6ppm/C

Copper

Nuxz0.16
Nuxy0.25
Nuyz0.25
EX18.7e6psi
ALPX17.5e6ppm/C
NUXY0.34

Thesolderjointfracturedependenciesofsphericalbendingversusorthogonalloadingareignored.

Additionalvariablessuchascomponentsurfacefinish,printedboardsurfacefinish,padgeometry,external
heatsink,SMTprofile,fluxchemistry,etc.,thatalsocouldaffectsolderjointfractureresistancearenotaccounted
forintheacceptancecriteria.

3.2AnalysisRequirementsGenerateastrainagainststrainrateplotforthedetailedanalysis.Figure31provides
anexampleofsuchaplot.ThedefinitionforstrainrateisdocumentedinIPC/JEDEC9704.Comparetheplotwith
therecommendedacceptancecriteria.RefertoSection2(Figure21).

Analysisdatamusthighlightthefollowingconditions:

Strain/strainratecombinationsthatexceedtherecommendedguidelines
Gagereadingsatonepackagecornerthataremorethandoubletheothercorners,whengagereadings
areabove100strain.(Thatis,100%higherthanothervalues)
3

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Strain/strainratecombinationsthatarewithin20%ofmaximumallowableguidelines

Anyhighriskareas,asdefinedinthissection,shouldbefurtheranalyzed.

Figure31DataReportingExamplefor2.35mmThickPrintedBoardandSnPbsolder

Note:Thelimitsdonotserveasstrictguidanceandneedtobeverifiedforthespecificapplication.