Abstract
The conventional soft solder used in soldering electronic joints is made up of 63% Sn and 37% Pb. It has been established that Pb is harmful to the body. Therefore, there is an on-going research to find a replacement for Pb. Al-Zn-Sn alloy is considered here as a possible replacement for soft solder of Sn and Pb. Three compositions of the alloy (Al-7Zn-3Sn, Al-10Zn-5Sn, and Al-13Zn-7Sn) were sintered at the sintering temperatures of 300 °C and 350 °C (and the constant pressure of 40 MPa, time of 5 mins, a heating rate of 20 °C/mins). Temperature/displacement/time variation data during the sintering were collected. The three alloys were compared after sintering by checking their microstructure, their densities, their hardness, their porosity, and their tensile strengths. Results showed that Al-13Zn-7Sn sintered at 350 °C, 40 MPa, 5 mins, 20 °C/mins had the highest densification of 99.7%, the lowest porosity of 0.3%, least hardness and strength of 450.34 MPa and 147.84 MPa respectively.