Characterization of Strain-Rate Sensitivity of Sn-5%Sb Solder Using ABI® Testing

This paper expands ABI® applications beyond structural metals to electronic solder materials (Sn-5%Sb), demonstrating that the technique's small test volume and controlled indentation rates enable characterization of creep-prone materials at realistic operating temperatures.

Electronic solders operate at high homologous temperatures (T/Tm > 0.5) even at room temperature, meaning their mechanical behavior is inherently time-dependent. Strain-rate sensitivity — the relationship between flow stress and strain rate — is a critical parameter for predicting solder joint reliability under thermal cycling.

ABI's ability to control indentation rate and extract flow properties at multiple strain rates from a single test location makes it particularly well-suited to characterizing these rate-sensitive materials. The paper demonstrates this capability on Sn-5%Sb solder, a lead-free alloy of interest for electronic packaging applications.

This application significantly broadened ABI®'s relevance beyond the nuclear and structural engineering communities, demonstrating its versatility for materials characterization across diverse industries including electronics manufacturing.