The association of solderability testing with board level soldering performance automatic optical inspection (AOI)

The authors address the issue of agreement of visual board-level solderability with visual methods after solder-dipping or wetting-balance methods. A description of visual dip-and-look solderability test methodology along with wetting-balance principles and their use in solderability assessment for components is presented. The specific dip-and-look visual requirements, wetting-balance measures, and board-level solder-joint criteria used are discussed along with the strategy employed. The authors describe the experimental technique used, including the equipment, materials, and the details of the component sample preparations. Dip-and-look visual solderability assessment and wetting-balance measures are compared with actual board-level soldering performance. The ability of the various assessment methods to predict board-level defects is also explored. Recommendations in this area are given