CFD investigation of the soldering process for a small spherical PCM made of lead-tin alloy

Abstract

Unlike welding, soldering does not involve melting the work pieces. Soldering is a process in which two or more items are joined together by melting and putting a filler metal (solder) into the joint. Failure in the solder joint may make the system components lose their functions. Electrical wiring and electronic components are joined to devices and printed circuit boards using soldering. Soldering and brazing are both used in the assembly of musical instruments. Lead-tin alloy solder employed in the current investigation which has a diameter of 4 mm and a density of 11.0103 kg/m3 with continuous heat flux heating from the domain's left side and complete insulation on the other side. The melting of PCM was simulated using the ANSYS (Fluent) melting model. Three procedures were followed during the heating stage of the reflow process to perform the melting heat-transfer analysis. The simulation's results were recorded at regular intervals of 15 seconds. The results show melting rate increases as time proceeds. It is almost the same at the initial stages and increases in the middle and the end of the melting process. Heat transfer happens mostly through conduction during the first 0–30 seconds of the melting process, changing to natural convection as the material continues to heat up.