Predictive fatigue life equation for CBGA electronic packages based on design parameters

Finite-element simulations in combination with experimental data have been used extensively by researchers to predict the solder joint fatigue life in microelectronic packages. Such simulations often require good understanding of finite-element modeling, physics-based failure models, and time-, temperature-, and direction-dependent material constitutive behavior. Also, such simulations are computationally expensive and time-consuming. Microelectronic package designers do not have the time and the expertise to perform such simulations. Therefore, this work aims to develop predictive equations that are easy to use and are based on physics-based modeling. Using experimental data and finite-element simulations, this work has developed a polynomial predictive equation for solder fatigue life in a ceramic ball grid array (CBGA) package. The developed equation has been validated with other experimental data with good success. Efforts are underway to develop similar equations for other packages.