Shuttleworth, MP, Esfahani, MN, Marques-Hueso, J et al. (5 more authors) (2018) A New Digitally Driven Process for the Fabrication of Integrated Flex-Rigid Electronics. In: Proceedings of the 29th Annual International Solid Freeform Fabrication Symposium – An Additive Manufacturing Conference. Solid Freeform Fabrication 2018, 13-15 Aug 2018 , pp. 347-356.
Abstract
Conventionally, flexible and rigid electronics are produced separately using mask-based lithography techniques thus requiring connectors to join circuits together introducing potential failure modes and additional assembly. This work demonstrates a new manufacturing approach which overcomes this limitation by allowing the co-fabrication of both flex and rigid electronic circuitry within the same part. This is achieved by hybridizing polyetherimide fused filament fabrication with selective photosynthesis of silver nanoparticles and copper electroless plating. The performance and reliability of this approach has been experimentally validated via manufacturing and testing positional sensors. By printing thin layers (< 50 µm), polyetherimide exhibits a high flexibility with minimal degradation from fatigue. Where part thicknesses exceed 180 µm, components start to exhibit rigid properties. A combination of various layer thicknesses allows rigid-flex substrates to be produced, with secondary processing to deposit the circuitry. Positional sensors with metalized feature sizes down to 300 µm have been fabricated that when deflected demonstrate a repeatable 1.4 Ω resistance change for 43,500
cycles.
Metadata
Item Type: | Proceedings Paper |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) > Future Manufacturing Processes (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number EPSRC EP/N018265/2 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 14 May 2019 10:28 |
Last Modified: | 14 May 2019 10:28 |
Published Version: | http://sffsymposium.engr.utexas.edu/TOC2018 |
Status: | Published |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:146033 |