Bart Plovie

Stretchability—The Metric for Stretchable Electrical Interconnects

Stretchable circuit technology, as the name implies, allows an electronic circuit to adapt to its surroundings by elongating when an external force is applied. Based on this, early authors proposed a straightforward metric: stretchability—the percentage length increase the circuit can survive while remaining functional. However, when comparing technologies, this metric is often unreliable as it is heavily design dependent. This paper aims to demonstrate this shortcoming and proposes a series of alternate methods to evaluate the performance of a stretchable interconnect. These methods consider circuit volume, material usage, and the reliability of the technology. This analysis is then expanded to the direct current (DC) resistance measurement performed on these stretchable interconnects. A simple dead reckoning approach is demonstrated to estimate the magnitude of these measurement errors on the final measurement.

A new technology for rigid 3D free-form electronics based on the thermoplastic deformation of flat standard PCB type circuits

In this paper we present a technology for the production of randomly shaped 3D electronic circuits, which is complementary to the 3D-MID technology. The technology is based on conventional printed circuit board (PCB) technology, thermoplastic polymer encapsulation and thermoforming of the flat polymer carrier with the embedded circuit. Meander shaped Cu lines between components are stretched during the thermoforming while maintaining their interconnection function. The feasibility of this process has been demonstrated by producing functional free-form LED circuits.

Design and Integration of Flexible Sensor Matrix for In Situ Monitoring of Polymer Composites

Sensory polymer composites are highly desirable for applications such as in situ and real-time production processes and structural health monitoring, and for technologies that include human-machine interfaces for the next generation of Internet of Things. However, the development of these materials is still in its infancy: these materials have been reported, but the large-scale fabrication of polymer composites with versatile and customizable sensing capabilities has yet to be demonstrated. Here, we report on a scalable fabrication strategy that enables such materials by designing and integrating PCB technology-inspired large-area flexible sensor matrices into polymer composites. The integrated sensor matrices successfully monitored in situ the production processes and structural health of an industrial polymer composite: from the application of vacuum, resin flow and polymerization, production defects, and temperature distribution. Our results demonstrate that the proposed strategy is a simple and effective solution as a distributed monitoring platform for polymer composites and shows the potential toward next generation of sensory polymer composites.

Capacitive sensor network for composites production monitoring

In situ real-time production monitoring of polymer matrix composites is becoming ever more important due to the increasing complexity of composites manufacturing techniques, in conjunction with the adoption of newer materials. This paper presents the design and implementation of a capacitive sensor network for composites production monitoring, i.e., mold filling, (post) curing of the polymer, and vitrification. The sensor network is fabricated by flexible printed circuit board technology, which combines low cost per unit area and high extendibility with off-the-shelf electronic components. Experimental verification on the laboratory setup is given to demonstrate the potential of the system.