Plastic deformation of solderless press-fit connectors

The reliability of a press-fit connector depends on the strength of the contact in the connector. Therefore, an ability to predict the contact strength would enable optimization of the connectors and their production conditions. However, predicting the contact strength is a difficult, non-trivial task. In the present work, FE simulations were carried out using Abaqus software to study a standard press-fit connector. Numerical analysis of the mechanical behavior of the connector requires constitutive and tribological data on the CuSn6 pin and the copper socket, the nickel and gold plating and the printed circuit board.