A novel thermal-gradient creep test to evaluate the creep Behavior of Sn-Pb eutectic alloy

ABSTRACT

In this study, a novel and Thermal-Gradient Creep (TGC) test aided with the Image Processing Method (IPM) was designed and performed on 63Sn-37Pb eutectic solder alloy. To obtain the creep data of the alloy and verify the novel creep test, three conventional isothermal tests at 68, 90, and 112 °C as well as the thermal-gradient test in the range of 68 to 112 °C were conducted using similar test conditions. In addition, the strain, strain rate, and effective strain of each selected element were calculated, and the fractured element was recognized with IPM instead of an extensometer. A meaningful relationship between the two tests was developed by using activation energies in the total and elemental forms in isothermal and thermal-gradient one, which indicated that the thermal-gradient creep test could be a practical and efficient replacement for successfully capturing creep data.

Graphical Abstract

KEYWORDS:

• Thermal-gradient creep
• image processing
• novel creep test
• eutectic solder alloy
• effective strain

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.