About this Abstract |
| Meeting |
2027 TMS Annual Meeting & Exhibition
|
| Symposium
|
Materials and Manufacturing in Space
|
| Presentation Title |
Reliability of Terrestrial vs Microgravity Solder Joint for In-Space Application |
| Author(s) |
Emilio Siham Nader Estrada, Siddhartha Pathak |
| On-Site Speaker (Planned) |
Emilio Siham Nader Estrada |
| Abstract Scope |
Reliable solder joints are critical for in-space manufacturing and repair, where microgravity can significantly alter solidification behavior. Understanding how these conditions influence the resulting solder-joint microstructure is essential for assessing joint performance as NASA explores soldering as a viable metal-joining approach for electronic and structural systems during long-duration missions.
We report the three-dimensional microstructural characteristics of 40Pb–60Sn solder alloys processed under microgravity aboard the International Space Station and under corresponding terrestrial conditions. The samples were characterized using synchrotron X-ray tomography at Beamline 7-BM of the Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory, to quantify void distribution, dendrite morphology, and dendrite spacing.
The preliminary tomography datasets showed the microstructure of the solder joints, enabling nondestructive visualization and quantitative characterization of the three-dimensional dendritic structure and voids. We will report a direct comparison of microgravity vs terrestrial processed solder microstructures based on void size and quantity, spatial distribution, dendrite morphology, and spacing. |
| Proceedings Inclusion? |
Planned: |