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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to increase the reliability of manufactured electronics and to reveal reliability significant factors. The experiments were focused especially on the influence of the reflow oven parameters presented by a heating factor. Design/methodology/approach The shear strength of the surface mount device (SMD) resistors and their joint resistance were analyzed. The resistors were assembled with two Sn/Ag/Cu-based and one Bi-based solder pastes, and the analysis was done for several values of the heating factor and before and after isothermal aging. The measurement of thickness of intermetallic compounds was conducted on the micro-sections of the solder joints. Findings The shear strength of solder joints based on the Sn/Ag/Cu-based solder alloy started to decline after the heating factor reached the value of 500 s · K, whereas the shear strength of the solder alloy based on the Bi alloy (in the measured range) always increased with an increase in the heating factor. Also, the Bi-based solder joints showed shear strength increase after isothermal aging in contrast to Sn/Ag/Cu-based solder joints, which showed shear strength decrease. Originality/value The interpretation of the results of such a comprehensive measurement leads to a better understanding of the mutual relation between reliability and other technological parameters such as solder alloy type, surface finish and parameters of the soldering process.

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Electronic manufacturing principles are continuously developing, further improving assembly quality and productivity. There is a continuous need to apply novel and improved methods of process monitoring to provide accurate measurement and control during assembling. In this paper, a new principle for monitoring filmwise condensation-based heat-level—vapour phase soldering (HL-VPS) is presented to improve the process control. The experiment is based on thermocouple sensors in fusion with a sensitive gauge type pressure sensor. The aim is to precisely identify the steps of condensation-based reflow heat transfer process with commercially available components and the mindset of possible retrofitting in the generally used HL-VPS soldering ovens. It was found that the gauge sensor can follow the state of the workspace more precisely as the thermocouples, by monitoring the hydrostatic state of the vapour. The pressure (time) function gives information about the build-up of the vapour column, highlighting four characteristic steps (phases) of the process, meaning: immersion of the sample to be soldered, condensation-based heat transfer, solder-break, and cooling. Combined application with thermocouples enables more precise control, improving soldering quality and can reduce idle time of the oven. In addition, it was showed that the gauge type sensors could highlight any failure in the oven sealing by a sensor signal threshold detection. The original concept of workspace identification also fits the present and future industry 4.0 directives.

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