Active investigation continues on various alloys used to replace lead for soldering in electronics components. Use of lead has dropped since the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive took effect in July, 2006. Historically, interconnections in electronic components have been made using tin/lead solder formulations. Those materials melt at 183C, while the thermoset and thermoplastics used in electronics have temperature limits up to 235C. The glass transition temperature of FR-4, a common PCB material, is between 140-175C. The resin softens as temperatures rise. New lead-free alternates such as SAC become liquid at 217C. Other lead-free solders have even higher melting points, causing failures of laminates and thermoplastics. Materials suppliers are struggling to adapt, says James Hall of ITM Consulting, who gave an interesting overview of the issue during a conference session at National Manufacturing Week in Rosemont, IL. “Just increasing cross-linking in the modified epoxies used in laminates is not the way to go,” he says. Cross-linking increases the brittleness of the laminates, creating problems when the boards are drilled. Specialty thermoplastics, such as modified nylons, are also experiencing problems because of the high solder temperatures. Explorations continue on new plastics as well as new solder formulations, including significant use of dopants such as nickel and germanium that provide specific property enhancements for various reasons.
A new process for laser-welding large-scale, steel-aluminum foam sandwich structures for lightweighting ships, which eliminates intermetallic phase, has been demonstrated.
A major advance in repairing composite structures combining robots and lasers bodes well for commercial aircraft such as the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and Airbus A350XWB, which contain composites in large proportions of their structures.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
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