On the investigation of reuse potential of SnPb-solder affected copper subjected to work-hardening and thermal ageing

The reuse potential of SnPb-solder affected old/waste copper is investigated under the influence of work hardening and thermal treatments. In fact, the urge of using old copper to manufacture new components necessitates useful characterization of various properties to explore its reuse potential. In this context, a number of physico-mechanical properties of interest, namely, hardness, conductivity, thermal stability, structure, etc. are chosen here to characterize the solder-affected copper materials as well as analyze their possible changes/improvements under the influence of work-hardening and thermal treatments. Since the old/waste copper usually contains little amount of lead and tin, three additional sample materials, such as, copper ingots, copper‑tin alloy, and copper‑lead alloy are taken into consideration to ascertain the influence of individual solder elements…