I am very adamant here in the office that if you want something back in one piece, whether it is a sample, finished part or your son’s new toy, don’t leave it on my desk. My curiosity often gets the best of me and my reassembly skills are often not as good as my destructive abilities. I have just about everyone trained, but I still manage to get myself into some trouble occasionally. Last Friday was one example.
Here at PCS, we continue to look for Lead free connectors for Automotive glass that will stand up to the SAE/USCAR-40 testing requirements. We are confident that we have found a braided solution, but we are now focusing on finding a solder alloy that can be used on a solid Copper footprint and be robust enough to withstand the CTE (Coefficient of Thermal Expansion) mismatch between the Copper and glass.
Kevin and I completed some testing on Friday using an alloy that we thought held promise. We were attempting to test a couple different application techniques. We found that the bond between the solder and the glass proved to be a little better than expected which resulted in some excitement.
The glass shattered on the third pull and the peak tensile force was measured at 80.5 lbf. This is rather impressive considering the specification is 10.0 lbf. Unfortunately, the other clips on the panel could not be pull tested due to the fracturing of the glass. On the other hand, some days we need reminded that work can be fun, and this was one of those times. We are working on soldering clips to a new panel this week, with a slightly different testing technique which should help us preserve the panel.