Numerical Modeling of the Wave Soldering Process and Experimental Validation

Abstract

One of the most important procedures in the electronics industry is the assembly of electronic components onto Printed Circuit Boards (PCB) through the soldering process. Among the various soldering methods available, wave soldering is a very effective technique. In this process, the components are placed onto the PCB, which subsequently, is coated with flux and then passed across a preheat zone. In the end, the assembly is moved by the conveyor and passed over the surface of the molten solder wave in order to create a reliable connection both mechanically and electrically. Although this process has been frequently used, there are soldering defects that remain unsolved and continue to emerge, such as the missing of surface-mount components in the PCB after the soldering process. Aiming to understand if such defects are related to the force exerted by the solder wave in the PCB, in the present work, a numerical and experimental study was performed. For this purpose, a Computational Fluid Dynamic model was developed by using the Fluent® software to describe the interaction between the solder jet and the PCB with the integrated circuits, and the multiphase method, Volume of Fluid, was also applied to track the solder-air interface boundary. The results obtained numerically were validated by using an experimental setup designed and built to this end. In general, the data obtained showed to be in good agreement and it was concluded that the force exerted by the solder wave is approximately 0.02 N.

Fluid Flow and Structural Numerical Analysis of a Cerebral Aneurysm Model

“…In addition to the experimental approach, in recent years, there has been an increase in numerical hemodynamic studies using the computational fluid dynamics tool CFD [29][30][31][32][33][34]. This tool has been effective in investigating the relationship of vascular hemodynamics with the mechanisms of initiation, growth and rupture [9,[35][36][37].…”

Fast plug-in capacitors polarity detection with morphology and SVM fusion method in automatic optical inspection system

“…The AOI system we designed consists of a lightbox, an industrial camera, an industrial computer, an interactive screen, a speaker, an alarm lamp, and other equipment, as shown in Figure 1. This system is installed on the conveyor belt of the printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) [12] line and placed in front of the wave soldering furnace [13]. This AOI system ensures that the capacitor polarity is correct before sending the PCB to the wave soldering furnace.…”