Abstract
Numerous research efforts have evidenced that the solder joint profile in SMT affects reliability of the joint. In this work, the three-dimensional solder joint profile of the J-lead is predicted by minimizing the energy due to surface tension and gravity. Geometric complexity stemming from the curved shape of the J-lead is resolved by employing a transformed coordinate and corresponding element types with the geometric continuity condition in the finite element formulation. Based on the simulation results, the solder volume and pad length are found to have significant effects on the solder joint profile. The predicted solder joint profiles show reasonably good agreements with experimental data when the solder volume is adjusted by the amount of the volume loss due to wicking.
