Integrated Approach to Obtain Gas Flow Velocity in Convection Reflow Soldering Oven

The nozzle-matrix gas flow velocity has a great influence on the accuracy of the temperature field of a printed circuit board assembly (PCBA) during the hot air convection reflow soldering process. This paper proposes a new approach that integrates the theoretical calculation, numerical simulation and an experimental test to accurately determine the nozzle-matrix gas flow velocity. First, the temperature profile of the aluminum alloy thin plate in convection reflow ovens is measured using a Wiken tester. Second, the nozzle-matrix gas flow velocity is theoretically calculated with the Martin formula. The computational fluid dynamic (CFD)simulation is performed according to the Icepak code, where a single oven chamber model is established to represent the 10 zones of soldering ovens to reduce computational resources considering the supry of the soldering ovens. The simulated temperature profile of the aluminum alloy thin plate is obtained and the specific response surface model (RSM) is established to represent the deviation between the simulated temperature and the measured temperature. Finally, based on reverse problem analysis, non-linear programming by quadratic Lagrangian (NLPQL) is used to solve the mathematical optimization model with the objective of minimizing the temperature deviation to obtain the corrected nozzle-matrix gas flow velocity. To validate the accuracy, the temperature test and the modeling using the corrected gas flow velocity for a new PCBA component for the soldering ovens is conducted separately. The temperature comparison between the simulation and the test shows that the maximum temperature deviation is within 10 °C. This provides evidence that the nozzle-matrix gas flow velocity obtained by the new approach is accurate and effective.