Tin Whisker Risk Mitigation Strategy Assessment Task 04-065

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Tin Whisker Risk Mitigation Strategy
AssessmentTask 04-065
BenefitsInternational legislation to prohibit
lead (Pb) in electronic components will increase
NASAs exposure to pure tin-plated items that
were previously available with an alloy tin-lead
(Pb) finish. Through this task NASA Projects
will be provided technical guidance regarding
recommendations for mitigation strategies against
tin whiskers.
Description Extensive research has been
conducted on fundamental growth mechanism of tin
whiskers with no consensus model to explain why
whiskers may/may not form on some tin-plated
surfaces. Accelerated test methods to judge
whisker propensity also do not exist. Without a
model and/or tests, end users of tin-plated
hardware are left to implement their own whisker
mitigation strategies. This task will review the
technical literature on whisker mitigation
strategies and identify strengths, weaknesses and
limitations of each. Recommendations will be made
regarding additional analyses necessary to
improve confidence in the long-term effectiveness
of each strategy. Through this task NEPAG/NEPP
will continue to participate and leverage off its
long-standing partnership with whisker risk and
mitigation consortia sponsored by CALCE, NEMI and
JG-PP.

• Deliverables
• Survey to identify whisker mitigation strategies
  currently in use
• Report summarizing review of published literature
  on whisker mitigation to identify strengths,
  weaknesses, limitations
• Whisker mitigation strategy guideline document
• Proposal for additional evaluation needed to fill
  gaps in knowledge about various mitigation
  strategies employable by end users

Schedule/Costs
Risks
Total ROM Cost (non-CS) 70K
Funding may not support all desirable travel

Cost
Mitigation Guidance Needed NOW!

Schedule
No consensus exists on mitigation strategies

Technical
Consortia membership, proprietary information

Programmatic
Red, Yellow, or Green
Non-NASA Organizations/Procurements Aerospace
Corp/AF SMC CALCE NEMI JG-PP
Lead Center/PI GSFC Co-Is JPL Center Funding
Split GSFC - 50K, JPL - 20K

Strategic 8, Slide 5