Corrosion failure analysis of hearing aid battery-spring contacts

Gudla, Visweswara Chakravarthy; Ambat, Rajan

doi:10.1016/j.engfailanal.2017.05.045

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…and are manufactured using materials with good electrical and soldering properties such as Ag, Cu, Al, Sn, Ni, and Au. Several studies in the past have shown the corrosion failures of electrical components in the presence of harsh environmental conditions and ionic contaminants (Waterhouse and Taylor, 1974;Comizzoli et al, 1986;Ohring, 1998;Gudla and Ambat, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hearing aids are low-power electronic devices that are being used worldwide in a variety of locations that can impose different climatic conditions during its operation e.g., tropical, arid, dry, etc. Consequently, HAs are prone to corrosion failures due to moisture layer formation on its electronic parts like print circuit board assembly (PCBA), electrical contacts, etc., under humid conditions as well as upon exposure to bodily fluids such as human sweat and body oils (Gudla and Ambat, 2017). In addition, the failure of ZAB cells in the form of KOH leakage can easily occur with accelerated rates due to the prevalent corrosive environments in which HA devices are operated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Synergetic effect of temperature and humidity on the leakage of KOH electrolyte and related reliability of zinc-air batteries

et al. 2022

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The Zinc-air primary batteries (ZAB’s) are prone to electrolyte leakage upon exposure to high temperature and humidity conditions. Potassium hydroxide is a hygroscopic and corrosive compound and it can cause various electrochemical corrosion failures for the attached electronics inside a device. In this study, the effect of temperature and humid conditions on the leakage of Potassium hydroxide electrolyte from three different Zinc Air Battery variants were investigated. The batteries were exposed to hot and humid conditions, and a qualitative Gel test with pH indicator was used to visually observe the leakage from the individual set of battery variants. The residues of the released electrolyte was identified by FTIR and quantified using a titration method. SEM-EDS analysis was also performed to examine the surface of the batteries and sealants for eventual damage. The related effect of electrolyte leakage on the reliability of the batteries was performed by a voltage discharge test. The hygroscopicity properties of pure Potassium hydroxide were studied using a water sorption/desorption equipment and was correlated with electro impedance spectroscopy analysis using an interdigitated test board. The results from the study indicate that the increase in temperature caused an increased amount of electrolyte leakage under saturated humid conditions. Leakage of Potassium hydroxide electrolyte caused damage to the sealant gasket, clogged the oxygen ventilation holes of the batteries, and exhibits high hygroscopic properties when exposed to high temperature and humid conditions.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synergetic effect of temperature and humidity on the leakage of KOH electrolyte and related reliability of zinc-air batteries

et al. 2022

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“…Those previous studies focused mainly on failure analysis at the component level without holistically considering the whole device synergistically with the place of use. [ 20,21 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those previous studies focused mainly on failure analysis at the component level without holistically considering the whole device synergistically with the place of use. [20,21] The present investigation focused on the root cause failure analysis based on the physics of failure (PoF) approach to identify various failure modes and mechanisms for the field-failed HA devices. Failed HA devices from three different markets, such as Europe, United States, and Japan, that represent to some extent the tropical, subtropical, and coastal areas, were analyzed for corrosion failures.…”

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confidence: 99%

A comparative study on corrosion failure analysis of hearing aid devices from different markets

Yadav¹,

Ambat

2022

Materials & Corrosion

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The vulnerability of hearing aid devices to corrosion is critical due to their exposure to various kinds of ionic contaminants from the human body, such as sweat, sebum, and so forth, and harsh climatic conditions such as high temperature, humidity, and atmospheric pollutants. The device failure rate will vary depending upon the type of geographical location at which the device is used and root cause failure analysis is a crucial tool to understand the effect of geographical location on corrosion failures. In this study, field failed hearing aid devices from Europe, the United States, and Japan markets were investigated using a scanning electron microscope and elemental dispersive spectroscopy to locate failure mechanisms and causes. Information from the analysis was used for statistical analysis to compare the performance of the devices in the three markets based on failure percentage and failure probability for different parts and components. Solder terminals, battery contacts, light‐emitting diodes, and wireless‐link coil showed consistent and high failure probability across all three markets, whereas a higher failure rate for microphones was found in Europe and the United States market as compared to the Japanese market. The majority of the components corrosion failures occurred in the presence of high chloride ions from human sweat and the atmospheric conditions, whereas potassium hydroxide from the leakage of Zn–air battery was found as the additional cause for microphone failure.

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“…While many precautionary measures have been adopted to prevent the corrosion of solder joints under normal operating conditions, the complete protection from the ever-present corrosive ions has yet to be achieved (Liu et al , 2015a, 2015d). For example, it was reported that circuit for hearing-aid device was prone to human perspiration and environmental pollutant (Gudla and Ambat, 2017). Device failure caused by trace amounts of ionic contaminants are potentially more severe now than previously thought, given the increase in the number of electronic components tightly packed onto electronic circuits.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Corrosion characterization of Sn-Zn solder: a review

Nazeri

Yahaya

Gürsel

et al. 2019

SSMT

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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to review and examine three of the most common corrosion characterization techniques specifically on Sn-Zn solders. The discussion will highlight the configurations and recent developments on each of the compiled characterization techniques of potentiodynamic polarization, potentiostatic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Design/methodology/approach The approach will incorporate a literature review of previous works related to the experimental setups and common parameters. Findings The potentiostatic polarization, potentiodynamic polarization and EIS were found to provide crucial and vital information on the corrosion properties of Sn-Zn solders. Accordingly, this solder relies heavily on the amount of Zn available because of the inability to produce the intermetallic compound in between the elements. Further, the excellent mechanical properties and low melting temperature of the Sn-Zn solder is undeniable, however, the limitations regarding corrosion resistance present opportunities in furthering research in this field to identify improvements. This is to ensure that the corrosion performance can be aligned with the outstanding mechanical properties. The review also identified and summarized the advantages, recent trends and important findings in this field. Originality/value The unique challenges and future research directions regarding corrosion measurement in Sn-Zn solders were shown to highlight the rarely discussed risks and problems in the reliability of lead-free soldering. Many prior reviews have been undertaken of the Sn-Zn system, but limited studies have investigated the corrosive properties. Therefore, this review focuses on the corrosive characterizations of the Sn-Zn alloy system.

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Corrosion failure analysis of hearing aid battery-spring contacts

Cited by 10 publications

References 22 publications

Synergetic effect of temperature and humidity on the leakage of KOH electrolyte and related reliability of zinc-air batteries

Synergetic effect of temperature and humidity on the leakage of KOH electrolyte and related reliability of zinc-air batteries

A comparative study on corrosion failure analysis of hearing aid devices from different markets

Corrosion characterization of Sn-Zn solder: a review

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