Heat transfer at the metal/substrate interface during solidification of Pb-Sn solder alloys

Heat transfer analysis during the solidification of lead, tin, and two lead-base solder alloys against two different chill materials (steel and copper) was carried out with and without flux coating on the chill surface. Temperatures at two known locations inside the chill and casting were recorded as the casting started solidifying, and the acquired chill temperature data were used for solving a one-dimensional heat conduction equation inversely to yield the metal/chill interfacial heat flux and chill surface temperature as a function of time. The initial heat flux was high due to good contact at the metal/chill interface. As the casting started solidifying, there was a reduction in the heat flux due to the nonconforming contact at the interface. Chills with flux coating resulted in finer microstructures near the solder/substrate interface compared to those obtained with uncoated chills. The fineness of the microstructure also increased when copper was used as the chill material. The estimated total heat flow was found to be higher with flux-coated and copper chills. This was in good agreement with the finer microstructures obtained near the solder/chill interfacial region for solidification against copper chills and chills with flux coating on their surface.