Perovskite based materials have great potentials for various energy applications and the search for new materials for uses in SOFCs has largely been concentrated to this class of compounds. In this search, we have studied perovskite phases in the system La2Co1+z(Ti1-xMgx)1-zO6, with 0  x 0.9 and z = 0.0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6. Crystal structures were characterized by XRD and, for selected compositions, also by NPD and SAED. They exhibit with increasing x, as well as increasing z, a progressive increase in symmetry from monoclinic to orthorhombic to rhombohedral. The main focus in this work has been on the investigation of structure-property relations for compositions with 0.0 x 0.5 and z = 0. The nominal oxidation state of Co increases for these with increasing x, from Co2+ for x = 0 to Co3+ for x = 0.5. Magnetic measurements and XANES studies showed that the average spin state of Co changes linearly with increasing x, up to x = 0.5, in accordance with varying proportions of Co with two fixed oxidation states, i.e. Co2+ and Co3+. The data suggests that the Co3+ ions have an IS spin state or a mixture of LS and HS spin states for all compositions with nominally only Co2+ and Co3+ ions, possibly with the exception of the composition with x = 0.1, 0.2 and z = 0, for which the data indicate that the spin state might be HS. The XANES data indicate furthermore that for the perovskite phases with z = 0 and x > 0.5, which in the absence of O atom vacancies contain formally Co4+, the highest oxidation state of Co is Co3+, implying that the substitution of Ti4+ by Mg2+ for x ³ 0.5 effects an oxidation of O2- ions rather than an oxidation of Co3+ ions. The thermal expansion was found to increase nearly linearly with increasing oxidation state of Co. This agrees well with findings in previous studies and is attributable to an increase in the ionic radius of Co3+ ions with increasing temperature, due to a thermal excitation from a LS to IS or LS/HS spin states. High temperature electronic conductivity measurements indicate that the electronic conductivity increases with an increase of both relative and absolute amount of Co3+. The latter can be attributed to an increase in the number of Co-O-Co connections. Additional high temperature magnetic measurements for selected samples, whose susceptibilities did not follow a Curie law behaviour up to room temperature, showed effective magnetic moments that did approach plateaus even at high temperatures (900 K). Interpretations of these data are, however, hindered by the samples losing oxygen during the applied heating-cooling cycle. The present study has shown that the investigated system is suitable for further studies, of more fundamental character, which could provide further insight of the structure-property relationships that depend on the oxidation state of Co. / Studies of cobalt based perovskites for cathode materials in solid oxide fuel cells.

Anorthite is crystalline phase in the ceramic body. Is acquired on burning a mixture of calcium ceramic raw material. This work deals with the influence on the resulting properties of anorthite ceramic body, especially flexural strength, porosity, shrinkage, thermal expansion coefficient. And the influence of different CaO sources on the properties. As a source of CaO was used calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide and fluid fly ash.

Les signatures de l’existence des phonons sont omniprésentes dans les propriétés des matériaux. En première approximation, on peut scinder l'effet des phonons sur la structure électronique en deux contributions. D’une part, l'interaction électron-phonon capture la réponse électronique aux vibrations des noyaux du cristal, et d’autre, l'énergie libre de la population de phonons modifie le volume cristallin à l’équilibre. En plus d'être responsables de la dépendance en température de la structure électronique, ces deux mécanismes affectent les niveaux d'énergie à température nulle, à travers le mouvement du point zéro et l'énergie du point zéro. Cette thèse analyse l’apport de ces deux mécanismes à la renormalisation du point zéro (ZPR) de l'énergie de la bande interdite des semi-conducteurs. Une généralisation du modèle de Fröhlich prenant en compte l'anisotropie et les dégénérescences présentes dans les matériaux réels révèle que l'interaction non adiabatique entre les électrons et les noyaux domine le ZPR dans les matériaux polaires. La prise en compte de ce mécanisme dans l'évaluation de l'interaction électron-phonon est déterminante pour reproduire adéquatement les données expérimentales. L'approche développée par Grüneisen, qui néglige communément les effets du point zéro, reproduit la dilatation du point zéro du réseau (ZPLE) et sa contribution au ZPR obtenues avec la méthode standard basée sur la minimisation de l'énergie libre à moindre coût numérique, y compris pour les matériaux anisotropes. La contribution du ZPLE au ZPR total, qui a reçu peu d'attention dans la littérature, peut atteindre de 20% à plus de 80% de la contribution de l'interaction électron-phonon, y compris dans des matériaux constitués de noyaux légers. Elle domine même le ZPR du GaAs dans le contexte de la DFT semi-locale. Il est donc essentiel de traiter les deux contributions sur le même pied d'égalité pour modéliser le ZPR avec précision. L'inclusion du couplage spin-orbite (SOC) diminue le ZPR d'un ensemble substantiel de matériaux cubiques de structure zinc-blende, diamant et rock-salt. L'essentiel de cette variation tire son origine de l'effet du SOC sur les énergies électroniques statiques, qui provient en grande partie de la variation des masses effectives des bandes de valence au point \(\Gamma\). La réduction du ZPR peut être estimée à partir d'un modèle de Fröhlich généralisé auquel on a introduit le SOC. Les subtilités numériques liées au traitement de la séparation de Dresselhaus dans les matériaux non centrosymétriques sont discutées. On démontre enfin comment l'effet combiné de l'interaction électron-phonon et de la dilatation thermique affecte le diagramme de phase topologique du BiTeI. L'augmentation de la température repousse l'apparition de la phase d'isolant topologique \(\mathbb{Z}_2\) vers des pressions plus élevées et élargit la plage de pressions correspondant à la phase intermédiaire de type semi-métal de Weyl. Le caractère orbital dominant des extrema de bande influence significativement leur sensibilité à la pression et au changement de topologie. Pour guider la recherche expérimentale de phases topologiquement non triviales dans les matériaux de façon adéquate, les études numériques doivent donc considérer l'effet de la température. / Phonon signatures are ubiquitous in material properties. At first order, the effect of phonons on the electronic structure can be split into two contributions. On the one hand, the electron-phonon interaction captures the electronic response to the vibrations of the nuclei. On the other hand, the free energy of the phonon population modifies the crystalline volume at equilibrium. In addition to driving the temperature dependence of the electronic structure, these two mechanisms affect the energy levels at zero temperature through zero-point motion and zero-point energy. This thesis investigates the contribution of these two mechanisms to the zero point renormalization (ZPR) of the band gap energy of semiconductors. A generalized Fröhlich model taking into account the anisotropy and degeneracies occurring in real materials reveals that the non-adiabatic interaction between electrons and nuclei dominates the ZPR in polar materials. Taking this mechanism into account when evaluating the electron-phonon interaction is crucial to reproduce experimental data adequately. The Grüneisen formalism, which commonly neglects zero-point effects, reproduces the zero-point lattice expansion (ZPLE) and its contribution to the ZPR obtained from the standard method based on free energy minimization at lower numerical cost, including for anisotropic materials. The ZPLE contribution to the total ZPR, which has received little attention in the literature, can reach from 20% to more than 80% of the contribution of the electron-phonon interaction, including in materials containing light atoms. It even dominates the ZPR of GaAs within semilocal DFT. Therefore, both contributions should be treated on an equal footing to model the ZPR accurately. The inclusion of spin-orbit coupling (SOC) decreases the ZPR of a substantial set of cubic materials of zincblende, diamond and rocksalt structure. This variation originates mostly from the effect of SOC on the static electronic eigenvalues, which comes largely from the variation of the effective masses of the valence bands at the \(\Gamma\) point. The reduction of the ZPR can be estimated from a generalized Fröhlich model in which SOC has been introduced. Numerical subtleties related to the treatment of Dresselhaus separation in non-centrosymmetric materials are discussed. We finally show how the combination of electron-phonon interaction and thermal expansion affects the topological phase diagram of BiTeI. An increase in temperature pushes the \(\mathbb{Z}_2\) topological insulator phase towards higher pressures and widens the pressure range corresponding to the Weyl semi-metal intermediate phase. The leading orbital character of the band extrema significantly influences their sensitivity to variations in pressure and topology. To adequately guide the experimental search for topologically non-trivial phases in materials, numerical studies must therefore consider the effect of temperature.

Much study has been carried out to determine the properties of Lamellar Graphite Iron (LGI) or grey iron and their relations to factors such as the cooling rate, the dendrite morphology, the pouring temperature, and so on. However, there hasn’t been much comprehensive study on the properties of LGI outside the generally used and accepted composition, with 1 to 3% Silicon. The scope of this study is to measure and evaluate the thermal conductivity and tensile strength of LGI, for a higher concentration of  Si and different carbon contents. The concentration of Si aimed for was 4% but the concentration obtained after spectroscopy was between 4.1% to 4.15%. There are two hypereutectic, one near-eutectic and three hypoeutectic samples considered and these six chemical compositions were cast under different cooling conditions . The cooling time has been varied by providing different molds of 30mm, 55mm, and 80mm diameter cylinders respectively, for all the six sample compositions. The microstructure analysis carried out studies the segregation of Si, the graphite morphology, primary austenite morphology. These factors are then compared to the thermal and tensile behavior measured in this study. It can be observed that the thermal conductivity studied in the present work has a direct correlation for a higher Si content and tends to be greater than the thermal conductivity values observed from other studies with lower content Of Si. However, the conductivity shows an inverse relation with the cooling rate and is maximum for the samples with the lowest cooling rate. The tensile strength, on the other hand, seems to have a lower value than that observed in previous studies for LGI with 1 to 3% Si, but shows a direct correlation with the cooling rate. The mean area fraction of dendrites obtained and the mean interdendritic hydraulic diameter is also measured and their influence on the properties are also studied. The addition of more Si has greatly favored the thermal behavior positively but has also reduced the tensile strength.

[ES] Los avances tecnológicos se encuentran, en algunas ocasiones, limitados debido a la imposibilidad de combinar las excelentes prestaciones de los materiales conocidos con algunas funcionalidades críticas necesarias para desarrollar nuevas aplicaciones tecnológicas. Estos nuevos materiales con un diseño a la carta resultan extremadamente interesantes ya que permiten combinar propiedades y funcionalidades actualmente inalcanzables. La circona, u oxido de zirconio (ZrO2), es un sólido cristalino blanco con enlaces iónicos altamente estables que es principalmente obtenido en forma de polvo para aplicaciones tecnológicas. Debido a sus propiedades física y químicas, la circona es un material cerámico que posee una serie de características excepcionales, que incluyen una dureza, tenacidad y fractura relativamente altas en comparación con otros materiales cerámicos, bajo coeficiente de fricción y alto punto de fusión. Además, es un material relativamente no reactivo cuando se expone a ambientes húmedos y corrosivos en comparación con otros materiales como metales y polímeros, con buena resistencia a altas temperaturas y abrasión. Todas estas propiedades posicionan a la circona como un material muy versátil con un amplio espectro de aplicaciones que abarca intercambiadores de calor, celdas de combustible, componentes de turbinas para sistemas aeronáuticos y generación de electricidad, así como para medicina, odontología y otras aplicaciones. El propósito de esta tesis doctoral es la obtención de materiales base circona que puedan ser empleados en la fabricación de nuevos composites con funcionalidades a la carta en sectores tecnológicos como el transporte, energía, medicina, etc. Para ello se utilizarán técnicas de sinterización no-convencionales: Microondas (MW) y Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS). Para este trabajo se plantea el estudio de distintos composites base circona: circona reforzada con óxido de niobio (Nb2O5), Titania (TiO2) y composites de circona reforzados con manganita de lantano dopada con estroncio (LSM). El resultado final de esta investigación permitirá determinar si las técnicas rápidas de sinterización no-convencional, permiten mejoran las propiedades mecánicas, eléctricas y magnéticas de los materiales obtenidos en comparación con la sinterización por métodos convencionales. / [CA] Els avenços tecnològics són, en algunes ocasions, limitats per la impossibilitat de combinar l'excel·lent comportament dels materials coneguts amb algunes funcionalitats crítiques necessàries per desenvolupar noves aplicacions tecnològiques. Aquests nous materials amb disseny a la carta resulten summament interessants ja que permeten combinar propietats i funcionalitats actualment inabastables. La circonia, o òxid de zirconi (ZrO2), és un sòlid cristal·lí blanc amb enllaços iònics altament estables que s'obté principalment en forma de pols per a aplicacions tecnològiques. A causa de les seves propietats físiques i químiques, la zircònia és un material ceràmic que posseeix una sèrie de característiques excepcionals, que inclouen duresa, tenacitat i fractura relativament altes en comparació amb altres materials ceràmics, baix coeficient de fricció i alt punt de fusió. A més, és un material relativament no reactiu quan s'exposa a ambients humits i corrosius en comparació amb altres materials com metalls i polímers, amb bona resistència a altes temperatures i abrasió. Totes aquestes propietats posicionen a la zircònia com un material molt versàtil amb un ampli espectre d'aplicacions que inclou intercanviadors de calor, piles de combustible, components de turbines per a sistemes aeronàutics i generació d'electricitat, així com per a medicina, odontologia i altres aplicacions. L'objectiu d'aquesta tesi doctoral és l'obtenció de materials base de zircònia que puguin ser utilitzats en la fabricació de nous compòsits amb funcionalitats sota demanda en sectors tecnològics com transport, energia, medicina, etc. Per a això, s'utilitzaran tècniques de sinterització no convencionals utilitzat: microones (MW) i sinterització per plasma d'espurna (SPS) Per a aquest treball es proposa l'estudi de diferents composites a força de zircònia: zircònia reforçada amb òxid de niobi (Nb2O5), titanat (TiO2) i composites de zircònia reforçats amb manganita de lantani dopat amb estronci (LSM). El resultat final d'aquesta investigació permetrà determinar si les tècniques de sinterització ràpida no convencional permeten millorar les propietats mecàniques, elèctriques i magnètiques dels materials obtinguts en comparació amb la sinterització per mètodes convencionals. / [EN] Technological advances are, on some occasions, limited due to the impossibility of combining the excellent performance of known materials with some critical functionalities necessary to develop new technological applications. These new materials of great design are extremely interesting since they allow combining properties and functionalities currently unattainable. Zirconia, or zirconium oxide (ZrO2), is a white crystalline solid with highly stable ionic bonds that is mainly obtained in powder form for technological applications. Due to its physical and chemical properties, zirconia is a ceramic material that possesses several exceptional characteristics, including relatively high hardness, toughness and fracture compared to other ceramic materials, low coefficient of friction, and high melting point. Furthermore, it is a relatively non-reactive material when exposed to humid and corrosive environments compared to other materials such as metals and polymers, with good resistance to high temperatures and abrasion. All these properties position zirconia as a very versatile material with a wide spectrum of applications that includes heat exchangers, fuel cells, turbine components for aeronautical systems and electricity generation, as well as for medicine, dentistry, and other applications. The purpose of this doctoral thesis is to obtain zirconia base materials that can be used in the manufacture of new composites with on-demand functionalities in technological sectors such as transport, energy, medicine, etc. For this, non-conventional sintering techniques will be used: Microwaves (MW) and Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) For this work, the study of different zirconia-based composites is proposed: zirconia reinforced with niobium oxide (Nb2O5), titania (TiO2) and zirconia composites reinforced with strontium-doped lanthanum manganite (LSM). The result of this research will make it possible to determine whether rapid non-conventional sintering techniques allow the mechanical, electrical, and magnetic properties of the materials obtained to be improved compared to sintering by conventional methods. / El autor agradece a la Generalitat Valenciana por la ayuda económica recibida para la beca del programa Santiago Grisolía (GRISOLIAP/2018/168) / Guillén Pineda, RM. (2021). Desarrollo de materiales cerámicos base circona sinterizados mediante técnicas rápidas no convencionales [Tesis doctoral]. Universitat Politècnica de València. https://doi.org/10.4995/Thesis/10251/180231

<p dir="ltr">The adoption of Heterogeneous Integration (HI) technologies in semiconductor packaging to build 2.5D/3D structures has led to increased power densities and material heterogeneity. These structures place a new burden on thermal and mechanical design. Additionally, these structures allow for significantly increased physical design freedom. With more possible layout options as well as tougher thermal constraints, new specialized tools are required to accelerate this type of design.</p><p dir="ltr">To address this problem using traditional finite element analysis Stack3D is presented. Stack3D is a steady-state thermal-mechanical geometry modeling and analysis platform for advanced packaging early design exploration. It is a finite element simulator developed from scratch in Matlab complete with symbolic geometry representation, automatic meshing, chip power map support, and sparse matrix acceleration.</p><p dir="ltr">After the development of Stack3D, methods for further accelerating the simulation process at the cost of solution accuracy were examined. Neural networks were selected as an engine for this task based on their millisecond evaluation time. In order to choose between the training paradigms of Physics Informed and Data Driven neural networks, a series of benchmarks were run to identify Data Driven networks as ideal candidates for steady state heat conduction.</p><p dir="ltr">Last, the first neural network model for fully generalized steady state heat conduction of 3D packages is developed. This is made possible by using the solution to the partial differential equation governing steady state heat conduction and casting the problem into an image-to-image translation framework. After accounting for the third spatial dimension, this allows the use of cutting edge image processing network for the heat conduction problem. After training, the network was able to run tens of thousands of simulations with an average of 0.53\% error and 0.0035 seconds per simulation.</p>

In den letzten Jahren intensivierten sich die Bemühungen, anisotropes Verhalten von Gesteinen in numerischen Modellen abzubilden. Für ein tiefgreifendes Verständnis dieser Prozesse sind numerische Modelle gut geeignet, da hier die Rand- und Anfangsbedingungen sehr exakt vorgegeben werden können, um das Verhalten eines pkysikalischen Systems unter vollständig kontrollierbaren Bedingungen zu studieren. Am Beispiel von Gneis wird ein numerisches Modell für die Modellierung einaxialer Druck- und Spaltzugversuche vorgestellt. Dieses nutzt den Diskreten-Element-Code 3DEC der Fa. Itasca Consulting Group, Inc. um gekoppeltes nichtlinear-anisotropes thermo-mechanisches Materialverhalten zu simulieren. In dieser Arbeit wird sowohl der Modellaufbau anhand eines GBM gezeigt, als auch ein Stoffgesetz zur Simulation eines nichtlinearen orthotropen thermischen Expansionsverhaltens entwickelt. Die dafür benötigten Modellparameter werden anhand von durchgeführten Laborversuchen kalibriert. Das entwickelte Modell wird dann angewendet, um die Modellierung einaxialer Druck- und Spaltzugversuchen für ein anisotropes Material (Gneis) durchzuführen, um das Modell zu validieren. Am Ende der Arbeit wird eine praktische Anwendung des Modells in Form eines Schneidversuchs gezeigt. / In recent years, efforts have intensified to simulate the anisotropic behavior of rocks in numerical models. Numerical models are well suited for a profound understanding of these processes, since the boundary and initial conditions can be specified very precisely in order to study the behavior of a physical system under fully controllable conditions. Using the example of gneiss, a numerical model is presented for the modeling of uniaxial compression and Brazilian tensile tests. The discrete element code 3DEC from the company Itasca Consulting Group, Inc. is used to simulate coupled nonlinear- anisotropic thermo-mechanical material behavior. In this thesis the model generation is shown using Grain-Based Models and a material law for the simulation of a nonlinear orthotropic thermal expansion behavior is developed. The model parameters required for this are calibrated based on performed laboratory tests. The developed model is then applied to perform modeling of uniaxial compression and Brazilian tensile tests for an anisotropic material (gneiss) to validate the model. Lastly, a practical application of the model is shown in the form of a cutting test.

Dünne Filme aus konjugierten Molekülen werden vermehrt in der organischen Optoelektronik, Bio-Sensorik und Oberflächenmodifikationen eingesetzt. Jedoch steckt das nanoskopische Verständnis von elementaren Prozessen bzgl. des molekularen Wachstums, der Film-Stabilität und thermisch-mechanischer Eigenschaften noch in den Kinderschuhen. Im ersten Teil dieser Arbeit nutzen wir Echtzeit in situ spekulare und diffuse Röntgenstreuung in Kombination mit Kinetik-Monte-Carlo Simulationen, um die Nukleation und das Multilagen-Wachstum von C60 zu studieren. Wir quantifizieren einen konsistenten Satz von Energieparametern, die die Oberflächenprozesse während des Wachstums beschreiben: eine effektive Ehrlich-Schwoebel Barriere von EES = 110 meV, eine Oberflächendiffusions-Barriere von ED = 540 meV und die Bindungsenergie von EB = 130 meV. Durch die Analyse der Teilchendynamiken finden wir, dass die laterale Diffusion ähnlich derer von Kolloiden ist, jedoch weist die Stufenkanten-Diffusion eine atom-ähnlichen Schwoebel-Barriere auf. Außerdem haben wir für die erste Monolage ein thermisch-aktiviertes Dewetting nach dem Wachstum von C60 auf Mica mit einer effektiven Aktivierungsbarriere von (0.33 ± 0.14) eV für die Aufwärts-Diffusion beobachtet. Im zweiten Teil der Arbeit untersuchen wir die thermomechanischen Eigenschaften der supra-molekularen Anordnung von dem organischen Halbleiter PTCDI-C8. Temperaturabhängige GIXD-Experimente decken einen außergewöhnlich großen positiven und negativen thermischen Expansionskoeffizienten der Kristallstruktur auf. Die Moleküle vollführen kooperative rotierende Bewegungen als Reaktion auf die Temperaturänderung, die zu dieser anomalen thermischen Expansion führen. Unsere Beschreibung der Bewegungen einzelner adsorbierter Moleküle während des Wachstums und der kooperativen Bewegungen einzelner Moleküle in supra-molekularen Ensembles auf der molekularen Skala wird die weitere Arbeit auf dem Weg zu funktionalen molekularen dünnen Filmen beleben. / Thin films of conjugated molecules are increasingly used in organic optoelectronics, biosensing and surface modification. However, nanoscopic understanding of elementary processes regarding the molecular film growth, the stability of these films and regarding the thermal and mechanical properties of supra-molecular assemblies are in its infancy. In the first part of this thesis we use real-time in situ specular and diffuse X-ray scattering in combination with kinetic Monte Carlo simulations to study C60 nucleation and multilayer growth. We quantify a consistent set of energy parameters, which describe the surface processes during growth, yielding an effective Ehrlich-Schwoebel barrier of EES = 110 meV, a surface diffusion barrier of ED = 540 meV and a binding energy of EB = 130 meV. Analysing the particle-resolved dynamics, we find that the lateral diffusion is similar to colloids, but step-edge crossing is characterized by an atom-like Schwoebel barrier. Furthermore, a thermally-activated post-growth dewetting for C60 on mica has been observed for the first monolayer with an effective activation barrier for upward interlayer transport of (0.33 ± 0.14) eV. In the second part we investigate the thermomechanical properties of the supra-molecular assembly of the organic semiconductor PTCDI-C8. Temperature-dependent Grazing Incidence X-ray Diffraction (GIXD) experiments reveal extraordinary large positive and, surprisingly, negative thermal expansion coefficients of the thin film crystal structure. The molecules perform temperature-controlled cooperative rotational motions leading to the change of the molecular crystal structure at different temperatures. We hope that our molecular scale picture of the movement of single ad-molecules during growth and the cooperative motions of single molecules in supra-molecular ensembles will stimulate further work towards the optimized, rational design of functional molecular thin films and nanomaterials.

Diese Arbeit präsentiert eine umfassende in-situ Studie zur thermischen Ausdehnung von β-Ga2O3 im Temperaturbereich von Raumtemperatur (RT) bis 1200 K sowie zum Wachstum dünner Ga2O3 Schichten durch plasmaunterstützte Molekularstrahlepitaxie (MBE). Hierfür kamen synchrotron-basierte hochauflösende Röntgenbeugung (HRXRD) sowie die Beugung hochenergetischer Elektronen bei Reflexion (RHEED) zum Einsatz. Die dadurch erhaltenen Resultate gestatten detaillierte quantitative Aussagen zu den Ausdehnungskoeffizienten (CTE) von β-Ga2O3 und ein tieferes Verständnis des Wachstumsprozesses von Ga2O3 sowohl im Rahmen der Homo- als auch der Heteroepitaxie. / This thesis presents a comprehensive in-situ study on the thermal expansion of beta-Ga2O3 from room temperature (RT) to 1200 K, and the thin film growth of Ga2O3 as carried out by oxygen plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) using synchrotron-based high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD) and reflection high-energy electron diffraction (RHEED). The obtained results provide a quantitative analysis on the coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) of beta-Ga2O3, and a deeper understanding in the growth process of Ga2O3 in both homoepitaxy and heteroepitaxy.

International Telemetering Conference Proceedings / October 28-31, 1996 / Town and Country Hotel and Convention Center, San Diego, California / Eutectic (63% tin-37% lead) or near-eutectic (40% tin-60% lead) tin-lead solder is widely used for creating electrical interconnections between the printed wiring board (PWB) and the components mounted on the board surface. For components mounted directly on the PWB mounting pads, that is, surface mounted components, the tin-lead solder also constitutes the mechanical interconnection. Eutectic solder has a melting point of 183°C (361°F). It is important to realize that its homologous temperature, defined as the temperature in degrees Kelvin over its melting point temperature (T(m)), also in degrees Kelvin, is defined as T/T(m). At room temperature (25°C = 298K), eutectic solder's homologous temperature is 0.65. It is widely acknowledged that materials having a homologous temperature ≥ 0.5 are readily subject to creep, and the solder joints of printed wiring assemblies are routinely exposed to temperatures above room temperature. Hence, solder joints tend to be subject to both thermal fatigue and creep. This can lead to premature failures during service conditions. The geometry, that is, the lead configuration, of the joints can also affect failure. Various geometries are better suited to withstand failure than others. The purpose of this paper is to explore solder joint failures of dual in-line (DIP) integrated circuit components, leadless ceramic chip carriers (LCCCs), and gull wing and J-lead surface mount components mounted on PWBs.