At electronica China 2020, HKKM Copper Alloy Technology Group demonstrated its advanced version of copper-nickel silicon alloy developed for the new requirements of 5G applications, as well as hot-dip tinned strip materials, which are widely used in various electronic connectors, especially It is a communication connector and a car connector.
HKKM three "star" products, hot-dip tinned copper alloy strips "Hold" audience
HKKM is the world's leading manufacturer of high-performance copper and copper alloy new materials. It has inherited more than 400 years of German copper alloy international patent manufacturing technology. Advanced copper alloy materials are widely used in new energy vehicles, artificial intelligence, 5G and the Internet of Things, etc. High-tech fields. At this exhibition, KMD recommended 3 "star" products, namely advanced version of copper-nickel silicon alloy, hot-dip tinned strip material and tinned silver material.
"The optimized version of copper-nickel-silicon alloy can be said to be the “non-mainstream” among the mainstream materials of modern electronic connectors." Compared with traditional copper-nickel-silicon alloys, the fine alloy composition and precise control of subsequent processing make copper-nickel The strength and conductivity of silicon alloys have been raised by one level. The optimized yield strength of the copper-nickel-silicon alloy can be more than 720MPa, while the bending characteristics (toughness) can still be maintained at a good level of R/T=2, 180°; and the conductivity has been increased from 40-45% IACS to 45 -55% IACS, the improvement of conductivity will greatly promote future 5G applications, allowing copper-nickel-silicon alloys to be used in more places, even on connectors that have not been tried before.
The optimized version of copper-nickel-silicon alloy satisfies the 5G era's requirements for high strength, high toughness, and high electrical conductivity. It has been widely used in many famous communication connector manufacturers.
Optimized copper nickel silicon alloy
At the same time, in response to the surface characteristics requirements of connectors in the 5G era, such as low contact resistance, appropriate insertion and removal force, stability and durability, HKKM has developed hot-dip tin strip materials HK 13 (Thermic Tin) and HK 28M (SnAg) alloy coatings. Compared with electroplating tin, hot dip tin plating has more advantages in terms of function, cost, durability, anti-aging and environmental protection. HKKM is the first enterprise to develop hot dip tin plating production line in China. After one year of research and development, hot dip plating Tin has made new progress.
Hot-dip tinned strip material
Compared with pure tin, HK 13 has a much higher microscopic hardness, which is 6-10 times that of ordinary plating; HK 28M has increased the hardness because of the increase of silver. Changes in hardness will lead to changes in the insertion and extraction force. The insertion and extraction force of HK13 is the smallest, followed by HK 28M, pure tin, and electroplating. Therefore, the appropriate material for insertion and extraction requirements is HK 13 plating.
If there is good weldability or contact resistance requirements, the appropriate material is HK 28M plating. The tin-silver alloy HK 28M has extremely low contact resistance due to the addition of silver, and the service life is increased by 5-6 times when changing from pure tin to tin-silver alloy. In terms of solderability, the emergence of tin-silver alloys can replace traditional tin-lead alloys. In addition, compared with pure tin plating, tin-silver alloy plating can improve high temperature resistance by more than 20°C. Relatively speaking, the price of using tin-silver alloy will be higher, but the quality of the product will be greatly improved. HKKM's HK 13 and HK 28M alloy coatings are currently in stable mass production in Chinese factories.
Material R&D and investment layout of HKKM in the 5G era
"The future direction of material development is the route of high strength and high conductivity." Liu Jun of HKKM mentioned that future products will have a trend of miniaturization and light weight. Thinning requires higher bending performance (toughness), miniaturization requires higher material isotropy, and high-speed transmission requires higher electrical conductivity. At the same time, in order to maintain higher stability and durability, the yield strength of the material is required to be higher than 700MPa and have an excellent level of resistance to stress relaxation.
Based on this future market trend, HKKM conducts research and development, and continuously improves the strength of the material while taking into account the conductivity of the material through the optimization of the process and the investment in research and development.
"New energy vehicle-related products and communication base station construction are new industries, and the introduction of new copper materials required by them has been going on." Liu Jun said, HKKM's products are widely used in automotive, industrial, communications and consumer In a series of markets, the application fields of products are wide enough, but in order to reduce the impact of the epidemic and the global economic environment on the company, HKKM also focuses on the 5G and new energy vehicles, looking for new growth points for materials. The country vigorously develops new infrastructure. HKKM seizes the opportunity and develops suitable materials for promotion in the market.
HKKM continues KME Europe's technology, with a very complete product series, covering pure copper, brass, bronze and a series of high-performance copper alloys. At present, there are more than 20 conventional core materials.
The high-speed and stable transmission and storage of big data in the 5G era will require more advanced connectors. Correspondingly, the demand for high-performance copper alloys and special plating is becoming more and more urgent. With the mission of "committed to improving and developing our products and providing advanced material solutions for our target customers", HKKM has developed new types of copper-nickel-silicon alloys and special coatings such as HK 13 and HK 28M to satisfy the Asia-Pacific market to the greatest extent Rapid development.