Development of technology for electron beam welding of impellers of centrifugal pumps for ships and offshore structures operated in the Arctic

Object and purpose of research. Centrifugal equipment is widely used in various sectors of industry. One of the main part of centrifugal equipment is the impeller. Application of impellers in shipbuilding is a promising field, in particular for fail-free operation in harsh Arctic environment. The purpose of this study is development of manufacturing processes for impellers involving electro-beam welding (EBW) without soldering alloys and final thermal treatment. Materials and methods. The main material chosen for the impeller is the high-strength cold-resistant steel 10ХН3МД. Main results. In the process of technology development, the impeller design was chosen. Welding conditions were optimized on mock-up samples modeling the T-joint of cover plate with vane. Sample tests and investigation were done. Conclusions were made regarding the follow-on work and EBW introduction. Conclusion. EBW technology for manufacturing of impellers was developed making it possible to fabricate impellers of high-strength cold resistant materials, including difficult-to-weld materials.

Soldering to Gold Thin Films Using Indium Rich Silver Eutectic Alloys

Performance of the semiconductor devices is solicited by reliable metallic electrical connections. Any bad electrical connection may one of the major sources of noise and low mechanical strength, hence reducing the performance and life of the device. Apart from the successful synthesis or development of semiconductor devices or solders; the technique to carry out soldering process plays a vital role to attain reliable and reproducible electrical connections. This paper demonstrates the soldering process on gold thin films using In-3.0%Ag eutectic soldering alloys considering the three fundamental aspects of the process i.e. scavenging, wetting and aging. Scavenging and wetting behaviors of the solder were evaluated at various temperatures and different fluxes, respectively. Effect of aging was evaluated by shear testing after aging for various durations. It was observed that using the soldering temperature somewhere between 160-190 °C with 20 wt.% salicylic acid flux is favorable for better wetting and scavenging characteristics. A post solder aging (at 95 °C for 12 hours) seamed to facilitate improvement in mechanical strengths.

Wetting behavior and interfacial characteristic of eutectic In-Ag solders on Au thin films

Soldering electrical contacts to gold thin films is a matter of consideration due to high soldering temperature, restricted wetting, excessive scavenging and low strength offered by most of the common soldering alloys. Indium alloys offer certain benefits for gold soldering justifying their increased cost. In the present study, hypo-, hyper- and eutectic In-Ag solder were prepared and investigated for compositional and structural homogeneity, soldering temperature, contact angle, spreading factor, scavenging zone and scavenging phase (i.e. AuIn2). It was found that addition of silver (~3.5%) ameliorated the above mentioned characteristics for better control of soldering practice with gold thin films besides lowering the soldering temperature.

Comparisons of Soldering Alloys in Large Ceramic Substrate to Metal Heatsink Attachment Application

Tin-lead alloys have historically been popular in the electronics industry for use in solder-attach applications. Despite recent restrictions related to lead content, some industries continue to use lead based alloys in solder applications. Tin-lead based alloys, in particular, have proven to have excellent solderability to tin, nickel, copper, gold, and silver metallization surfaces. They have also performed better in reliability than most of the lead free solders. As a result of this, they are still widely used in the aerospace and military electronics industry. Hybrid microelectronics built for space applications use both Tin-Lead-Silver Alloy Sn62 and Lead Free Soldering Alloy Sn96; these solders are used both for wire and component attach as well as substrate to header attach. This article discusses the differences of these two solders, using both literature and experimental study. Experimental testing involving pull tests further supports this conclusion.

Wetting behavior and interfacial characteristic of eutectic In-Ag solders on Au thin films

Soldering electrical contacts to gold thin films is a matter of consideration due to high soldering temperature, restricted wetting, excessive scavenging and low strength offered by most of the common soldering alloys. Indium alloys offer certain benefits for gold soldering justifying their increased cost. In the present study, hypo-, hyper- and eutectic In-Ag solder were prepared and investigated for compositional and structural homogeneity, soldering temperature, contact angle, spreading factor, scavenging zone and scavenging phase (i.e. AuIn2). It was found that addition of silver (~3.5%) ameliorated the above mentioned characteristics for better control of soldering practice with gold thin films besides lowering the soldering temperature.

The Thermal-Aging Effect on the Microstructure Evolution and Shear Strength of the Sn-Rich Au-Sn Soldering between Altic and Si Substrate in Microelectronics

The Au-Sn soldering alloys are commonly used in microsoldering process for microelectronic industry due to fluxless process and relatively low melting temperature with good eutectic microstructures. This study investigated the microstructures of Au-Sn soldering between AlTiC and Si substrates with Ti/Pt/Au under bump metallization (UBM). The microstructures of the solder samples under three conditions: before bonding, after bonding and after thermal-cycle aging, were investigated. The shear strength values of pre-aging and post-aging soldering were compared. The thermal-cycling temperatures were ranged from -40 to 125 °C for 300 cycles. The intermetallic compounds (IMCs) of the AuSn solders consist of AuSn, AuSn2, and AuSn4. After thermal-cycle aging, the bonding strength was increased due to the improved IMC bonding between solders and UBM; the shear surfaces were rougher due to the growth of AuSn and AuSn2.