Solder Joint Formation in Surface Mount Technology—Part II: Design

Abstract

In this paper dimensionless design curves relating fillet height and length to joint cross-sectional area are presented for surface-mount solder joints. Based on an analytical surface tension model, the advantage of these dimensionless curves is that they may be used for arbitrary values of solder density and surface tension. The range of applicability of previously developed approximate formulae for predicting joint dimensions is also investigated. A simple example problem is included to illustrate the use of both the design curves and the approximate formulae.