Soldering Pressure Effect on Lifetime of Thermoelectric Modules under Thermal Cycling

Abstract

For practical industrial applications, enhancing the longevity and the reliability of thermoelectric modules (TEMs) is equally as crucial as improving their conversion efficiency. This study proposes a strategy for extending the lifespan and introduces the quality evaluation criteria for the most extensively used commercial bismuth telluride TEM. By varying the soldering pressure during module assembly, its impact on the quality of the module’s internal interfacial connections was investigated, via analyzing its contact resistivity, shear modulus, and antifatigue ability through thermal cycling tests. The findings reveal that increasing the soldering pressure leads to a slight reduction in interfacial contact resistivity and has no significant effect on the shear modulus but notably enhances the module’s antifatigue ability during thermal cycling tests. According to the SEM results, it can be evidently deduced that the aforementioned phenomena are directly correlated with the size and quantity of voids distributed in the solder layer, which is regarded as the origin of antifatigue ability. Thus, it can be inferred that augmenting the soldering pressure represents an effective approach to prolonging the lifespan of TEMs assembled by using the soldering method. Furthermore, the existence of voids within the solder layer can serve as a criterion for an initial assessment of module longevity. This study provides a reference for both the industrial assembly and lifespan evaluation of commercial bismuth telluride TEMs.