Reliability assessment of a digital electronic board assembly using the physics-of-failure approach: a case study

An independent study has been carried out to assess the extent to which the physics-of-failure (PoF) technique can help in reliability enhancement and assessment of electronic assemblies. In particular, a specific case study has been conducted on a real, digital electronic board assembly with known failure modes. Results from the study include the simulation of substrate and component temperatures based on the knowledge of component power dissipation, board assembly materials and cooling methods of the board assembly. The fundamental frequencies and dynamic displacements of the board were computed from the vibration models. The thermal and vibration results were then used to model the damage accumulation at solder joints of the components to accurately predict failure trends and failure sites. These results are compared with field failure data and results from other computer aided engineering (CAE) tools.