Implementation of and extensions to Darveaux's approach to finite-element simulation of BGA solder joint reliability

Viscoplastic finite-element (FE) simulation is used to predict board-level solder joint reliability of ball grid array (BGA) packages under accelerated temperature cycling (ATC) conditions. The model is first validated against archived ATC data, then parametric studies are conducted to examine the model's sensitivity to changes in design factors and thermo-mechanical material properties. The use of the program Surface Evolver to predict BGA solder joint shape and profile is briefly discussed.