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Cracked Joint
Cracking of a solder joint on a plated through joint is uncommon; in this example the solder joint is on a single sided board. The joint has failed due to expansion and contraction of the lead in the joint. In this case the fault lies with the initial design as the board is not meeting the requirements of its operating environment. Single sided joints can fail during assembly due to poor handling but in this case the surface of the joint shows stress lines which have been produced during repeated movement.