Among various die-attach technologies, sintered silver has emerged as a preferable bonding technology for high-performance power electronics, attributed to its exceptional mechanical and thermal properties. The sintering process parameters including pressure, temperature, and duration significantly impact the porosity and the corresponding mechanical characteristics of the sintered silver bond. The effects of these parameters are widely investigated but they remain not fully understood. This study systematically investigates the effects of sintering pressure and duration on the porosity and tensile behavior of sintered silver. Test samples were produced using micro-sized silver particles under varying pressures (7 and 15 \(\text{MPa}\) ) and durations (3 and 6 min) at a constant temperature of 230 \(^\circ \text{C}\) . Porosity levels were assessed through optical microscopy and microstructural image analysis. Extensive tensile experiments, combined with high-precision digital image correlation, were performed at two strain rates of \({10}^{-4}\) and \({10}^{-5}\) \({\text{s}}^{-1}\) . Results indicated that higher pressure and extended sintering times significantly reduced porosity, leading to improved mechanical properties such as higher elastic modulus, yield strength, ultimate tensile strength, and failure strain. Statistical analysis further confirmed that the material's mechanical response is strain-rate dependent, with porosity playing a critical role in this sensitivity. Additionally, a bilinear isotropic hardening model incorporating porosity effects was calibrated and validated through finite element simulations, showing excellent agreement with experimental results. The findings of the present investigation provide valuable insight into optimizing sintering parameters and establishing robust constitutive models for the reliable design of power electronic assemblies using sintered silver joints.
