Thermal investigations of solder joints used in power applications

A good way to characterize the quality of a solder joint is its thermal behavior at different currents and the current capabilities. The electrical current capabilities have been discussed in many other studies, but thermal investigations were not performed very often. The team developed a series of tests on boards with different configurations, and in all cases was proven that the solder joints heat up much less than the components or the tracks, and their temperature increases due to thermal conductivity from the surrounding elements.