Boeing’s Lead-Free Solder Efforts

1st European Union/United States Lead-Free Solder

Interface Meeting
London, W1A U.K.
March 27, 2002

Dr. Richard E. Pinckert

Director, Design Integration &
Environmental Assurance
Boeing Military Aircraft & Missile Systems Group
Saint Louis, MO

CC14060001.ppt © The Boeing Company 2002

 Agenda

• Historical Approach
• JG-PP Concept
• JG-PP/Boeing Nonchrome Primer
Program
• Boeing Lead Free Solder Activities
• Testing
• Future Lead Free Solder Activities

© The Boeing Company 2002

 Historical Approach
DoD
Support and
Programmatics

DoD/Boeing DoD/Boeing DoD/Boeing

F-15 Team F/A-18 Team SLAM Team
@
@

@
@

@
@

DoD/Boeing
Technical Task
AV-8B Team
Initiation and
DoD/Boeing DoD/Boeing Execution
C-17 Team T-45TS Team

Support and
Business
Boeing
Requirements

© The Boeing Company 2002

 JG-PP Concept
DoD Boeing

• F-15
• C-17

• F/A-18
• Harpoon/
SLAM
• T-45TS JG-PP
•AV-8B

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 Selection Factors
Program Offices Selected
Elimination of Chromated
Primer on Exterior Surfaces
– Improve Working Environment
– EPA Regulation
– Pending OSHA Regulation
– Material Change Requires
Program Approvals
– Life Cycle Cost Benefits
– Primers Available Commercially

© The Boeing Company 2002

Challenges
• Replace Hexavalent
Chromium - the
Historical Corrosion
Inhibitor for
Most Aluminum
Aircraft

• Define Acceptable
Testing - Lab Tests
and Standards
Established
for Chromated
Primers

• Minimize Risk
© The Boeing Company 2002
 Joint Test Protocol
Laboratory Testing
+ Operational Testing

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 Project Milestones
Activity '96 ‘97 ‘98 ‘99 ‘00 ‘01

Laboratory Testing
(2) F-15 Aircraft + (2 in 2000)
(7) F/A-18 Aircraft
(4) T-45 Aircraft
(2) Harpoon Canisters
(1) AV-8B Aircraft
(1) C-130 Aircraft
(1) C-17 Aircraft
Implementation Decision

Test Units Fielded Completed Inspections

© The Boeing Company 2002

Operational Testing Summary
• Trend of operational performance validated
laboratory test results
• Overall performance differences were not
perceptible to field personnel
• Operational testing built confidence in
nonchrome primers for exterior moldline
applications but not sufficient for
implementation

© The Boeing Company 2002

2001 Lead Free Solder
Activities at Boeing

© The Boeing Company 2002

 Lead-Elimination
• Boeing conducted a test program in 2001 to
determine:
– Do lead-free solder joints have long-term reliability
equivalent to tin/lead?
– Do lead-free solders leach toxic metals?
• Materials that were tested:
– Lead-free solder for reflow soldering:
Tin/3.8%Silver/0.7%Copper
– Lead-free solder for wave soldering:
Tin/0.7%Copper
– Lead-free board finishes: Immersion silver, OSP
and electrolytic gold
– Lead-free component finish: Tin/0.7%Copper
© The Boeing Company 2002
 Soldering Operations
• Reflow Soldering: solder paste is melted in an oven

HEAT

• Wave Soldering: components are attached to

boards using a wave of molten solder

SOLDER WAVE

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 Test Vehicle
• Components: 1206 ceramic chip resistors
were chosen because they
– are inexpensive
– can be obtained with lead-free finishes
– have a high failure rate during thermal cycling
• 40 resistors were reflow soldered on the top
of each test board

© The Boeing Company 2002

 Test Vehicle continued
continued

• 40 resistors were wave soldered on the

bottom of each test board
• The test boards were thermally cycled.
Continuous electrical monitoring of the solder
joints was done to detect failures.
• 4380 thermal cycles were accumulated;
thermal cycle was -55°C to +125°C with 15
minute dwells

© The Boeing Company 2002

Solder/Finish Combinations Tested
Control Specimens
Board Finish Silver OSP Tin/Lead Gold
Solder Paste Tin/Lead Tin/Lead Tin/Lead Tin/Lead
Component
Tin/Lead Tin/Lead Tin/Lead Tin/Lead
Finish
Wave Solder Tin/Lead Tin/Lead Tin/Lead Tin/Lead

Lead-Free Specimens
Board Finish Silver OSP Gold
Solder Paste Tin/Silver/Copper Tin/Silver/Copper Tin/Silver/Copper
Component Tin/Copper Tin/Copper Tin/Copper
Finish
Wave Solder Tin/Copper Tin/Copper Tin/Copper

© The Boeing Company 2002

 Solder Joint Appearance
Tin/Lead Tin/Copper

Tin/Silver/Copper
Lead-free solder joints
are typically striated and
rough. This means that
inspection criteria must
be changed.

© The Boeing Company 2002

 Reliability Test Results
70.00
Reflowed Tin/Silver/Copper
60.00 Solder
(Tin/Copper Component Finish)
50.00
Failures (%)

Tin/Lead Solder Control

40.00
Immersion Silver Finish
30.00
OSP Finish

20.00 Nickel/Electrolytic Gold

Finish
10.00

0.00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Cycles
© The Boeing Company 2002
 Reliability Test Results
70.00

60.00
Tin/Copper Wave Solder
(Tin/Copper Component Finish)
50.00

Tin/Lead Solder Control

Failures (%)

40.00
Immersion Silver Finish
30.00
OSP Finish

20.00 Nickel/Electrolytic Gold

Finish
10.00

0.00
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000
Cycles
© The Boeing Company 2002
 Reliability Test Results
• Reflowed tin/silver/copper is less reliable than
tin/lead.
– Reduced reliability is seen with ceramic
components (e.g., chip resistors) that stress the
solder joints due to a large CTE mismatch with the
board.
– Other studies have seen similar results.
– Other studies have shown that tin/silver/copper
performs as well as tin/lead when used with more
compliant components.
– Ceramic components are the “weakest link” where
tin/silver/copper is concerned.
• Tin/copper (wave soldered) is as reliable as
tin/lead.
© The Boeing Company 2002
 Leachate Testing
• Leachate testing was conducted on the
solder joints to verify that the tin/silver/copper
solder would not be a bigger environmental
problem than tin/lead solder.
– Leachate Tests
> USEPA TCLP Test
> State of Texas Seven-Day Distilled Water
Leachate Test
– Elements looked for
> Pb (a neurotoxin and a haematotoxin)
> Ag (very toxic to marine life)

© The Boeing Company 2002

 Leachate Testing continued
• No silver was detected in leachates from the
lead-free boards (detection limit was 0.01
mg/l). Lead was leached from the control
boards in amounts above USEPA limits (5.0
mg/l).

© The Boeing Company 2002

 Conclusions
• Reflowed tin/silver/copper is less reliable than
tin/lead when used with ceramic components.

• Tin/silver/copper has little potential for leaching

toxic silver.

• Tin/copper (wave soldered) is as reliable as

tin/lead.

• Further work is needed to find a highly reliable

solder for reflow operations.
© The Boeing Company 2002
 2002 Lead-Elimination
Activities at Boeing
• The reliability of six lead-free solders for reflow
operations will be determined.

• The solders will also be contaminated with lead to

determine the effect of the lead upon reliability.
This simulates the condition where lead-containing
boards are reworked with lead-free solders.

• Boeing will support the activities of the No-Lead

Solder JG-PP.
© The Boeing Company 2002