Use of The Area-of-Spread Method for
Monitoring The,Stability of Reflow Furnaces
N. N. Ekere and W. Lawson
Electronics Manufacturing Engineering Research Group
Department of Aeronautical,
Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering
University of Salford, Manchester, M5 4WT, United Kingdom
Email : n.n.ekere @ salford. ac. uk
1. Bibliography
Ndy Ekere heads the Electronics Manufacturing
Engineering Research Group at Salford University,
where he also holds a chair in Electronics
Manufacturing. He received his BEng (honours) degree
in Mechanical Engineering from the University of
Nigeria, N s M i g e r i a [1981], the Master of Science
Degree in Flexible Manufacturing Systems and
Robotics from Loughborough University,
Leicestershire, UK [1984], and the Doctor of Science
degree in Manufacturing Engineering from the
University of Manchester Institute of Science and
Technology, Manchester, UK [ 19971. His main research
interests are in the modelling of manufacturing
processes, in particular the processes used for high-
density electronics interconnection.
Wayne Lawson currently works as a Project Engineer,
Hybrids with Delphi Auto in Liverpool UK. He
received the BEng (honours) degree in Electronics
Engineering [1997], and the Master of Science in
Advanced Manufacturing [19991 from the University of
Salford, UK. His main research interests are in the
development of advanced tools for facilitating mass
reflow soldering.
2. Abstract
The effectiveness of automated soldering processes used
in the assembly of surface mount devices is very
dependent on the solderability of the PCB pads and the
device leadterminations. Although there are a large
number of factors that can impact the solderability of
any surface, the most important consideration is known
to be the wettability. The wetting characteristics of the
PCB pad surface by molten solder can be characterised
by two key variables: the degree of wetting and the
speed of wetting. In this paper, we investigate the use of
the Area Of Spread [AOS] method for the assessment of
wetting parameters which can be used as a guide to the
solderabilityof PCB pad surfaces in reflow soldering. In
the AOS method, the wetting [and hence solderability]
of PCB pad surface is assessed by measuring the area
over which a given mass of fluxed solder will spread on
the sample PCB pad at a given temperature (in excess of
the melting point of the solder) and in a given time.
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Although the reflow soldering technique has been
around for quite a number of years, and has been used in
the assembly of surface mount devices, there are very
few methods available for the on-line monitoring and
assessment of solderability.There are a large number of
off-line solderability assessment techniques, such as the
solder dip method, the Wetting Balance method and the
Globule Balance method. Although these methods are
quite useful for process characterisation, they are not
suitable for monitoring the process stability of the
reflow furnace over time. This paper discusses the use
of an area-of-spread experiment as a means of
measuring the stability of the reflow process using
statistical process control (SPC) methods.
It is expected that this methodology will be applicable
for process control and monitoring activities to expedite
the development and efficient operation of reflow
soldering systems. An improved method of measuring
the area-of-spread of solder paste is used in the
experiment from which quantitative result can be
produced to gain reflow oven control data.
3. Introduction
Soldering technology plays an essential role in the
modem electronics industry, and hence also in the
enormous range of products and disciplines that are now
dependent on electronics. The reliable mass production
of soldered joints is thus now of paramount importance,
since any item of electronic equipment can only be as
reliable as the joints that constitute its assembly. These
concerns are emphasised by the increasing speeds of
production and the trend towards further product
miniaturisation, which make routine inspection and
rework more difficult. The move towards achieving
“zero-defect’’production requires a thorough knowledge
of the basic concepts of solderable surfaces, and the
various techniques that can be used to test solderability
at various stages of production. There are basically two
different mass soldering methods used in the assembly
of electronic devices: the fust method involves using a
liquid solder bath (wave soldering), and the second
method involves using a pre-placed amount of solder,
usually in form of solder paste for the reflow soldering
process. This paper concerns a method for assessing the
stability of the reflow soldering oven.
1999 IEEUCPMT Int‘l Electronics ManufacturingTechnology Symposium
 The basic method currently available for monitoring the
reflow oven stability is thermal profiling. This involves
measuring the “actual” board temperatures at different
stages of the reflow process and at different points on a
given substrate. The result of measuring these
temperatures is to produce an “optimum” temperature
profile that meets the thermal requirements of the given
substrate material, component and solder paste type.
Although the thermal profiling technique has the
advantage of indicating the precise temperatures at the
different points on the substrate at the different stages of
the reflow process, there are two major limitations. The
first concerns the difficulty of distinguishing between
different soldering atmospheres and in particular the
effect of 0 2 in inert atmosphere soldering [1,2]. The
second limitation is cost related, as the process is known
to be quite time consuming, tying up an expensive
resourcesover long periods of time.
This paper presents an alternative technique, which
utilises the Area-Of-Spread, wettability method. The
method can be used as a laboratory prototyping tool and
also in production to obtain an easy and quick
assessment of the wettability of the base metal by the
solder alloy, and also for assessing the efficacy of a
given fldvehicle system for a specific base metal and
solder alloy combination. In its basic form, the
technique involves heating a certain amount of solder on
a base metal in the presence of flux, and then assessing
the spread of the solder [both qualitative and
quantitative assessment is possible]. Figure 1; give
details for calculation of the Area of Spread of molten
solder. In this way, the wettability of molten solder on a
given substrate is used as a way of assessing
solderability. Good wettability results in good
solderability,which means the formation of a uniform,
smooth, unbroken, adherent coat of solder on the base
metal without the need for active flux systems and the
associated cleaning.
S d m e Tension and Wetting
The interfacial surface forces that dictate the shape of
the molten solder are dependent on a wide range of
factors such as the reflow temperature, solder alloy, the
pastes flux activity and the soldering atmosphere. The
resulting surface tensions and their effect on wetting is
best illustrated by the Young’s’ relation (see Figure 2),
which defines the Contact Angle 8,given by:
where:
K,, is the surface tension at the solid-vapour interface,
& is the surface tension at the solid-liquid interface,
and
/(Iy is the surface tension at the liquid-vapour interface.
The contact angle, Il can thus be used as a measure of
wetting, with ll = 0” corresponding to perfect wetting
[i.e. excellent area of spread, and n > 90” signifying
non-wetting or poor wetting [i.e. very poor area of
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spread]. This means that wetting [and thus
solderability]can be improved by factors which increase
&,. or by those which result in decreasing & and 4”.
Solderability Assessment
Two of the most widely used techniques in indusny for
assessing solderability are the Solder Dip Method and
the Wetting Balance test. These tests are based on either
the extent of wetting or the time of wetting under
controlled test conditions. It should be noted that
solderabilityis inherently dependent on the composition
and condition of the surface of the base metal being
soldered and its measurement is extremely complex. It is
this complicated nature of solderability together with the
different ways in which solderability parameters can
interact with different soldering processes, that makes it
difficult to perform solderability tests that are fully
representativeof the real life soldering situation.
Solder dip m e t h d
The Solder Dip Method is illustrated in Figure 3. With
this test a small part or portion cut from a large piece of
a non-corrosivematerial is fluxed and then dipped into a
solder pot containing solder of a specified alloy at a
specific temperature, for a specified period of time.
After dipping in a solder pot the test piece is removed
from the solder pot, allowed to cool in air until the
solder solidifies. The test piece is then examined for
uniformity, smoothness, adherence and bedom from
non-wetting and dewetting. The automatic dip test was
devised to eliminate the unavoidable errors in the timing
of the dipping operation. The IPC specification [3]
details the use of a simple cam operation device for
providing the correct speed of entrance and withdrawal
and the correct dwell time to meet the solderability test
specification for printed wiring boards.
Wetting Balance Test
This method measures the time for the solder to wet the
component termination or pad. In other words, it is
possible to measure the changes of wetting force on a
sample as a function of time. In the wetting balance test
the leaded component, after fluxing, is immersed in a
bath of molten solder at 235°C. The time taken to wet
the lead and the wetting force is measured and a wetting
balance curve produced. Figure 4 demonstrates the
operation of the wetting balance, which includes the
following stages.
[a]. the specimen before immersion
[b]. the specimen immediately after immersion
(upwards
force on specimen)
[c]. the wetting of the specimen has reached the
point when the only force acting on the piece
is the buoyancy of the liquid
[d] when the meniscus is curved upwards, wetting
equilibrium is reach on the specimen
(downward
force on the specimen)
[e&fl. the specimen has been withdrawn.
The test specimen is subjected to time-variant vertical
forces made up of two main components: a buoyancy
1999 IEEWCPMT Inrl ElectronicsManufacturingTechnology Symposium
 force acting upwards and a force due to surface tension
acting downwards. The combined effects of these forces
are detected by a transducer and converted to a signal,
which is continuously recorded to give the wetting
balance curve shown in Figure 4.
Area of Spread Test
In this test, a uniform volume or weight of specified
solder, in the form of a pallet, is placed on a test
specimen with a few drops of non-activated rosin flux.
The part is then heated at a controlled temperature for a
defined period in an oven. After heating, the area of
spread can be measured as shown in Figure 1. The test
can also be conducted using an alternative method, by
printing a predetermined quantity of solder paste, using
a stencil, onto a material (e.g. copper coupon), and
placing it through a reflow oven. The reflow oven’s
profile should be suitable for the given solder paste.
Although, this test does give an indication of
solderability, the analysis of results can be very time
consuming and typically requires good vision assistance
with precision X-Y measuring microscope. There are
several factors that are likely to impact the results of the
AOS test, and two of the most important ones are
discussed below.
Oven repeatability
One of the most important considerations is the oven
repeatability, which refers to the reflow oven’s
capability to repeat a given profile. The oven
repeatability is inherently dependent on the machine
loading and load factor. Figure 3
Board Length (Lb)
Load Factor (FL)=
& + B o a r d Gap ( G b )
illustrates the concept of “Load factor”. It should be
noted that the higher the load factor, the more difficult it
is for an oven to produce repeatable results. In practice,
reflow oven manufacturerstypically specify a maximum
loading factor of between 0.5 to 0.9.
The issue of the loading factor becomes important when
sizing a reflow oven, for example determining the
required reflow oven capacity. The non-unifopity can
be measured by conducting a thermal profile on a test
board, whilst loading the oven - supplying the oven
with a regular flow of substrates, periodically
conducting a profile (with the test board) within the
oven load and comparingit with the unloaded profile.
Oven UnifOnnizy
Another major source of concern is Oven Uniformity,
which causes non-uniform product heating. This can be
caused by edge effects on the heater (less heat at the
end) or by the conveyor system sinking heat. The edge
effect may be caused by insufficient airflow around the
edges of the machine, or by non-uniformities that are
inherent in the heater. The heat sinking of the conveyor
system is a mass effect, which may be exacerbated by
product mass differential.Oven uniformity and potential
mass differential can be measured by placing
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thermocoupleson the conveyor edge and on the smallest
device.
4. TheExperiment
The experiment is based on an improved method of the
area-of-spread tests conducted by Muren [41, in an
attempt to monitor the effect atmospheres had on the
wetting characteristics of reflow soldering (see Figure
6). The tests involved depositing solder paste onto FR4
PCBs etched with copper strips (see Figure 7), placing
the sample through a reflow oven under a given
atmosphere and comparing the results with the printed
solder paste deposit dimensions. This method has the
advantage of limiting the area of spread to two
directions. However, obtaining the results from several
samples, for statistical analysis, can be very time
consuming? The test pattern used in this experiment
furthers Muren’s method by increasing the number of
solder deposits per copper stip at predetermined
deposit sizes and pitch
When the solder paste reaches its reflow temperature,
the solder becomes molten and wets the copper surface.
If the soldering conditions permit, e.g. reduced 02
levels or flux activity, the molten solder will spread and
coalesce with its neighbouring molten solder deposit.
Therefore, the greater the pitch covered by the molten
solder the greater the ma-of-spread the given
conditions produce. Hence, many bridges indicate good
wetting and conversely, no bridging will indicate poor
wetting. Producing a test specimen that bridges in N2
and produces no bridges in air atmospheresis sufficient
for a qualitative evaluation [5].However, if a more
quantitative area-of-spread evaluation is required then
certain properties of soldering must be controlled. In
this experiment a test substrate was design with different
widths of copper lands and stencil aperture sizes. The
test substrate, using a stencil, is printed with a given
solder paste and then reflowed under a set of conditions.
The test substrate was design to allow for various
wetting levels, from influences such as atmospheresand
flux activity, and the monitoring of left and right
temperature difference in a reflow oven. For statistical
stability each pattern is replicated five times, giving a
maximum of fifty possible bridges per pattern.
The monitoring of the left and right temperature
differences is achieved by replicating the design on one
board. This replication of test patterns on the left and
right of the test board enables the detection of thermal
differences effecting both sides of a reflow furnace. If
the temperature is the same on both sides of the reflow
oven then the values obtain for the left and right patterns
should be equal. However, if the values differ then there
may be discrepanciesin the left and right temperature of
the reflow oven.
Monitoring wetting levels is achieved by producing
three different land sizes in 30 thousandth of inch
(0.03”)increments (30, 60 and 90). The aperture pitch
(P) distances are set at J increments of the
corresponding land sizes multiplied by the pattern
number (1,2 or 3). For example, the pitch distances of
the 0.03” land are of 30 (IO), ’13 of 30 (20) and 3/3 of
1999 IEEUCPMT lnrl ElectronicsManufacturing Technology Symposium
 30 (30). The land size and the aperture pitch values are
then multiplied to produce a coefficient value (A). The
delta value corresponds to the total visible wetting area
available before reflow. This value is used to offset the
bridge value of each pattern reading. Hence, a pattern
with a greater area-of-spread will signify a greater
wetting influence than that of a smaller area-of-spread.
For example, if a test board is placed through a specific
reflow condition and 50 bridges are produced on a
pattern with a A value of 3 (A3 = [10x30]/100) and on
the same test board 40 bridges are produced on a pattern
with a A value of 54 (h54) then, for this specific set of
conditions, it can be assumed that the process effects the
wetting more than A3 and less than A54. In other
words, the solder wets a surface area 5400<300
thousand of an inch.
Producing several patterns with different stencil aperture
sizes and land pitches, shown in table 1, would, produce
a scale of area-of-spread that could be read and used to
measure a process stability. Placing a test board through
a set of reflow condition, an area-of-spread value (2)
can be produced. This parameter Z is calculated from
the sum of the A values and bridge count (X)products,
shown in equation 1.
z==Amlx~l+A&m2+Arn3xrn3.. .Amnxmn
.........U1
where m corresponds to the left or the right side pattern
of the test PCB (L or R) and n is the pattern number (0-
9). The resultant figure from this calculation is then
converted into a percentage, in effect producing a
percentage AOS, given by:
s = -Z 100
Zm,,
........................................ PI
2- is the maximum value of Z; this is obtained by
setting the X values in to 50
4.I Evdualing the Efficacy of the Test
Over the years there has been much work conducted in
the area of nitrogen atmosphere for reflow processes
[6,7] as a method of reducing oxide growth on metallic
parts caused by the oxygen content in the air
atmosphere. Tests have been conducted [7] that
demonstrate an increase in wettability with the reduction
of oxygen. Hence, it can be assumed that if the test is
conducted in a low level of oxygen then the number of
solder bridges on area-of-spread tests conducted in a N2
atmosphere should be greater than that of tests
conducted in an air atmosphere.
As a method of measuring the efficacy of the test two
sets of test were conducted using two types of solder
paste, type A and type B, with known levels of flux
activity.
Hypothesis:
Type A: High Flux activity, produce a greater S value
than type B solder pastes [where A is 50% more active
than B].
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Type B: Low Flux activity, produce a less S value than
type A solder paste.
As a method of preliminarily evaluating the test four
boards for each solder paste type were placed through a
reflow oven at different 0 2 levels (Air - 50ppm). This
evaluation is based on hypothesis outlined above. If this
stands true then the S value for type B solder paste
should be some degree lower than that of type A. The
purpose of this test was to see dependence of solder
paste flux activity, by measuring the S factor produced
with a given set of conditions. The test was conducted
using a thermal profile suitable for both solder pastes in
air to 5Oppm oxygen levels in a Relm N2reflow furnace.
4.2 Using the Test to Measure the Effect of
Different 0,Levels
This test will produce two sets of results the fmt
involves the generation of an 0 2 threshold void point
and the second test will measure and compare the
variation in tests conducted in air and in Nz. Due to the
nature of operation of the reflow oven, different oxygen
levels can not be maintained. The reflow oven used was
designed to produce a control level set at 5Oppm 02.
This problem was overcome by placing test board
through the oven at regular intervals (2 minutes) whilst
switching on the N2 gas control and logging the oxygen
levels with a precision gas monitor. Admittedly, this is
not the most accurate method of producing controlled
oxygen levels due to the fact that it can only be falsely
assumed that the oxygen levels recorded at the point of
board entry will be the actual level at the board’s reflow
point. In fact, the oxygen level will increase whilst the
board is being conveyed through the oven.
It is a well-proven fact that Nz atmospheres increase
soldering yields by reducing the 0 2 levels in the
atmosphere. Therefore, conducting the area-of-spread
experiment in various levels of O2 with different solder
pastes could provide valuable information on void
thresholds. For example, at what level of 0 2 can the
furnace drop before the wetting of a surface is affected
to a point at which voids are probable? Knowledge of
this threshold point can benefit the manufacture with the
implementation of the appropriate process control
systems. The oxygen levels can be monitors on most
reflow furnaces. This can be utilised by setting the
threshold point on a control chart and thus preventing
O2 levels falling below the solder pastes “voiding”
region.
The second results produced from the data are used to
compare the variation in tests conducted in air and N2.
The comparisons were made two sets of results, each
made up of 10 runs.
4.3 Straight Runs in Air and N2
The final tests involved producing two runs of test
substrates, one conducted in air and the second in N2
(50ppm 02).The result of these tests will be compared
to highlight the differences in 0 2 levels and variation.
5. RSdtS
The results of the experiments are summarised below.
5.1 Evaluating the solderpaste scale of S
1999 IEEWCPMT Inrl Electronics ManufacturingTechnology Symposium
 The results of four test substrates per solder paste type
are shown in figure 8. As stated in the hypothesis, in the
previous section, solder paste A will produce a greater
area-of-spread than solder paste B. From the results
shown in figure 8 it is obvious that this hypothesis is true
and thus demonstrate that flux activity affects the AOS
value, S. A second point noticeable on figure 8 is the
effect low levels of O2 have on the percent area-of-
spread (S) of solder paste type A. For the next tests, the
value of the 50ppm 0 2 reading should be below SlOO
(a value around S80, this is to allow for the variation of
the process to be reflected on the S scale. It was for this
reason solder paste type A was not used for further test
and consequentlyonly solder paste type B was used.
Using the results from this test a correlation factor could
be produced kom the gradient of the graph shown in
figure 8. This value could be used for comparing a
solder paste’s response in 0 2 . However, this assumes
linearity which is not always true in practice. It is also
noticeable from the graph that there is a sigruficant
difference between the left and the right hand sides of
the test’substrates, and this is likely due to the
temperature differences in the reflow furnace.
5.2 Monitoring the effect of different 0,levels
using the area-ofspread test
As mention, sdder paste type A produced results that
were “off-scale”, possibly due to the higher activity of
the flux content in the solder paste, and therefore only
solder paste type B was used,
This test involved placing fifty test boards, stencil
printed, through a range of oxygen levels (Air-5Oppm).
On placing the 12* board through the reflow oven the
N2 was switched on and switch off at the 34* board,
shown by the dotted line on the graph in figure 9. The
graph also shows the oxygen levels at each point when
the board were placed in the reflow oven.
As shown in the graph, figure 9, when the N2 is switched
on then the S value increases, and conversely when the
N2 is switched off the S value reduces. In other word,
the area-of-spread test indicates when there is a change
in O2 levels. However, there is visually large amount of
variation in air compared to the test boards conducted in
Nz. Review of published work on inert reflow soldering
atmosphere show that there are a number of benefit in
reducing 0 2 levels namely, an increased process
window and reduced variation in the level of quality.
This could aid in the explanation in the large variation
shown, in fi,pre 9, with test boards conducted in air
compared to the N 2 boards.
The data from the air and N2 test board has been
separated and each have been place in a X-bar R, with a
subgroup of 2 that corresponds to two tests (left and
right tests), charts shoyn below in fi,pre 10 and 11.
The first noticeable point about the two sets of X-bar R
charts (figure 10 & 11) is that there is more points out of
control on the N2 X-bar chart compared with that of the
air X-bar chart. On the air atmosphere X-bar chart,
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figure 10, there is one point that falls out of control; this
could be accounted to experimental error and therefore
classes as an outliner. On the N 2 X-bar chart, figure 10,
three points are out of control indicating excessive
variation in the processes.
6. s-ry
A method of using the Area Of Spread test for
monitoring the stability of the reflow soldering process
has been demonstrated. In the AOS test, the
solderability of a base metal is assessed by measuring
the area over which a given mass of solder paste spreads
over the test specimen, at a given temperature in excess
of the melting point of the solder and in a given time.
The test has been adapted and used for assessing the
stability of the reflow soldering process. The paper also
presents results of tests on the effect of flux activity and
soldering atmosphere on wettability. Our results show
that the method is quite unstable for the small sample
size used for the experiments.
To reduce this large variation, we suggest new method
for restricting the flow of solder to only one direction on
the test sample. For example, rather that placing ten
solder paste deposits on one copper land, we
recommend using two solder paste deposits and
restricting the flow of molten solder to one direction, as
shown in figure 12. This will help to minimise the effect
of the interaction between neighbouring solder deposits,
which reshcts free flow as the molten solder coalesces.
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1. Manard Pierre J, “Statistical Process Control
of Reflow Soldering”, SMT Magazine, June
1996.
2. Klein de F J, ‘‘Important Issues in Reflow
Soldering”,
Soldering and Surface Mount Technology, Vol. 16,
No 2,1994
3. PC-S-801
4. Muren D, “Atmosphere Influence on Reflow
Soldering”,
AGA ABB Report, REPM 94332, circa 1994.
Holm, Torsten “Controlled atmospheres: Soldering
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of printed circuit boards”, Private Communication,
AGA ABB,Sweden, 1993.
6. Dong, C C., Dawson, A S, Chen, M S K, “Effects
of Trace Oxygen in Bulk Nitrogen on Solder
Wettability”, hoc. IPC Printed Circuits Expo,
Boston, MASS. 1994
7. C, Lea, “RelationshipBetween Oxygen Level in an
Infrared Reflow Oven & Soldering Quality”,
National Physical Laboratory, 7” November, 1991
1999 IEEVCPMT Int‘l Electronics Manufacturing Technology Symposium