OK International has announced that its Metcal brand is the premier sponsor of the second annual IPC APEX EXPO® Hand Soldering Competition and IPC World Championship, scheduled to take place February

 Nihon Superior Co. Ltd., a supplier of advanced soldering materials to the global market, announces that its Senior Technical Advisor Keith Sweatman will present the paper titled “Grain Refinement for Improved Lead-Free Solder Joint Reliability” at the upcoming IPC APEX EXPO, scheduled to take place February 19-21, 2013 at the San Diego Convention Center in San Diego, CA. This presentation will be held during session S11 titled “Solder and Alloy Reliability” on Wednesday, February 20, 2013 from 9-10 a.m.

With the growing realization that the near monocrystalline nature of the very small lead-free joints to area array components has significant implications for their reliability there is increasing interest in the possibility of increasing the number of grains in each joint. Since the number of grains in the joint is dependent primarily on the number of nuclei available the focus of such work is increasing the number of active nuclei per unit volume of solder. In this paper, Mr Sweatman will be reporting a preliminary exploration of the effect on the grain size of bulk solder of some additions to tin chosen on the basis of previous evidence of their effectiveness as nuclei for solidifying tin as well as an analysis of relevant binary phase diagrams. The results reported provide a basis for the next step in the pursuit of the objective of enhancing lead-free solder joint reliability by grain refinement.

For further information: info@nihonsuperior.co.jp

Nihon Superior was founded in 1966 when it began marketing unique flux products imported from the US. The company made its mark on society by gathering the most advanced soldering and brazing technologies and products from around the world, and supplying them to companies in the metal-joining industry. A turning point for the company came when it started developing its own soldering materials and with the success of its unique SN100C lead-free solder alloy Nihon Superior has become a major player in the global market. To support the growing demand for its products, Nihon Superior has established manufacturing and sales centers in Japan, China and other Asian countries, and the United States, and formed business partnerships with companies in other markets.