Effect of Concentrated Mechanical Load Acting on Plated Terminals

Plated terminals are occasionally subjected to concentrated mechanical loads which create a complex stress distribution within the terminal material. To study this phenomenon, a locally loaded semi-infinite medium is considered analogous to the terminal, wherein plating thicknesses and deformations are infinitesimally small.

The analysis uses a bipotential function and leads to equations for local stresses and displacements. It also generates several right-circular cones to identify zones of specific characters in terms of displacements and stresses. Cone vertices, with one exception, are different for different materials. Cone generators are of special interest. Regions on some generators do not have any radial stresses, whereas others have no radial displacements. The results are of a fundamental nature and can be used to study a plated terminal substrate under concentrated load.