A damage mechanics-based fatigue life prediction model for solder joints

A thermomechanical fatigue life prediction model based on the theory of damage mechanics is presented. The damage evolution, corresponding to the material degradation under cyclic thermomechanical loading, is quantified thermodynamic framework. The damage, as an internal state variable, is coupled with unified viscoplastic constitutive model to characterize the response of solder alloys. The damage-coupled viscoplastic model with kinematic and isotropic hardening is implemented in ABAQUS finite element package to simulate the cyclic softening behavior of solder joints. Several computational simulations of uniaxial monotonic tensile and cyclic shear tests are conducted to validate the model with experimental results. The behavior of an actual ball grid array (BGA) package under thermal fatigue loading is also simulated and compared with experimental results.