Complex geometries, customized parts and new processes; these are characteristics that are readily associated with additive manufacturing (AM). At the same time, they are often associated with high hurdles in terms of mass production, suitability for series production and reliability. The use of AM is already widespread in industries such as mechanical engineering, aerospace, automotive and medical technology.

What is the situation in the field of "classic" electronics and electronics manufacturing? Here, too, there are initial areas of application suitable for mass production and promising processes. Substrates for electronics are usually "multimaterial systems" (conductive & non-conductive). Appropriate printing systems and printers are today available, eCAD tools and data formats not.

Multilevel Additively Manufactured (AME) circuits and devices have been enabling circuit design and implementation that is not possible or is very expensive using traditional methods such as PCB production. This has been driven by the unique capabilities that the digital nature of AME technology brings to the electronics design and manufacturing industry: Freedom of form factor in the 3D structure of the circuits that can include built-in passives and embedded ICs.

This presentation will discuss not only the advances in design, manufacturing, and characterization of circuits and devices based on AME technology, but also the impact on the electronics packaging and System in a Package (SiP) devices. AME takes advantage of its digital nature to create any shape for the electronic circuit board with any number of interconnected levels with dielectric material between them. These structures typically have dimensions in x, y, and z with values that need to be controlled within a few microns, to 200 microns, to millimeters. Therefore, the dielectric, metal traces, and in-circuit components are electrically characterized only after the manufacturing step is completed and not layer by layer. Thus, the substrate, electrical devices, and component mounting has become more interrelated as an integral part of a complete functional device being fabricated in a single system as compared to the traditional analog PCB processes. For this, new test technologies need to be implemented. Examples of functional AME circuits and devices will be shown inclusive of transformers, RF devices in the GHz range, multipole/multilevel RF antennas, in circuits as well as inserted components, and other devices.

Surface mounted passive electrical components are beginning to reach hard limits for further reduction in size of their packages. Performance of the raw materials used have set capabilities for their volumes. Additionally, 01005 components are already small enough to pose difficulty in pick and place operations. For further volume reduction of PCB scale electronics, fundamental innovations to PCB construction are required. We have approached this challenge by using Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) to forgo planar PCB designs for Printed Circuit Structures (PCS). Volumetric savings have been achieved by developing a methodology to embed circuitry into the curved walls of a cylindrical structure, which turns the device into a Printed Circuit Cylinder (PCC).

The PCC process uses techniques from flat additively manufactured circuits, including Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) to create dielectric and support structures, Direct Print (DP) of conductive pastes to form traces, and surface milling to guarantee smooth substrates for those traces. From this point, the cylindrical methodology was developed. Software was written to convert flat print files into rotational ones, with the cylindrical workpiece rotating under the DDM tool plate. A subtractive milling program was written to embed components into the cylindrical surface by means of high-tolerance cavities. A new method of DDM interconnects was devised to make seamless thresholds for interconnects between the embedded QFN chips and the adjacent board.

These advancements together enabled the fabrication of a functional PCC with a suite of sensors and Bluetooth communication. The on-board sensors include acoustic, optical, and motion, and transmit that information to a Bluetooth connected device. The circuits have been fabricated reliably in quantity and are rugged enough to survive impulses up to 2000 G’s. These PCCs are the first step in the development of fully conformal electronics, and they create opportunities for volumetric savings in aerospace, munitions, and wearable applications.

Thermal management must advance with the military’s requirements for increased performance, lower costs, and rapid technology changes. Combining multiphysics analysis and additive manufacturing optimizes the cost, weight, and performance objectives using validated models and advanced fabrication techniques. Thermal solutions that meet the complex requirements of the military must be incorporated early in the design process to preemptively address challenges using a system-level approach.

This paper compares the benefits of single-phase and two-phase cooling in high-power applications. Novel additively manufactured designs were examined and experimentally tested to validate the multiphysics models. Best practice guidance will be shared.

Structural electronics enables design innovation by adding electronic functions to smart surfaces with 3-dimensional form factors. This paper describes the making of a structural electronics technology demonstrator that uses polypropylene (PP) film and injection molding (IM) resin. In the past, the company has used mostly polycarbonate (PC) materials. The change from PC films to PP film also affects surface mounting. This project showed that polypropylene materials are suitable for structural electronics. However, more work is needed to optimize manufacturing. For example, the team needs to find surface mounting adhesives with shorter cure times at temperatures of 80 °C or lower.

Stretchable electronics is a new innovation and becoming popular in various fields, especially in the health care sector. Since stretchable electronics use less Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) it is expected that the environmental performance of a stretchable electronics-based device is better than a rigid electronics-based device that provides the same functionalities. The main purpose of this research is to perform a comparative life cycle analysis (LCA) of stretchable and rigid electronics-based devices. The LCA results show that the stretchable cardiac monitoring device has better environmental performance in all eighteen impact categories. This research also shows that the manufacturing process of stretchable electronics has lower environmental impacts than those for rigid electronics. The main reasons for the improved environmental performance of stretchable electronics are lower consumption of raw material as well as decreased energy consumption during manufacturing.

Keywords: Life Cycle Assessment, Stretchable Electronics, Printed Circuit Board, Cardiac Monitoring Device, Electrical and Electronic Equipment

The journey to creating a connected factory can be a scary and arduous task, with some not even knowing where to start. Our roles as engineers supporting the factories have historically been responding to visual defects and relying on experience to guide us on how to correct and optimize processes, one issue at a time. Enter the age of digital data and the Internet of Things (IoT), and we now have the option to use data to our benefits. The key is how does one harness that data, in such a way that it can quickly be understood and used to optimize processes and even start to predict potential issues. And then to complete the digital thread, how does one feed factory data back to the Digital Product Model (DPM) such that designs can evolve?

There are several ways one could go about creating the factory of the future, and this paper will discuss the vision established for our future factory, utilizing the IPC DPM and Connected Factory Framework (CFX), what driving factors are pushing the industry to make the leap into digital transformation, and an example approach to executing a plan to achieve a connected factory. As technologies in the industry evolve, the roles currently in most factories will evolve too – engineers will need to possess data science skills that have not necessarily been required in the past, while technicians and inspectors will need to learn to interface with augmented reality. The data will drive designs to be better, and more producible over time, driving costs down. Data will enable the creation of common part databases to manage component selection and ensure vital manufacturing data is passed all the way through to the DPM during initial design – everything needed to build a circuit card will be right at your fingertips instead of having to wade through datasheets and specifications. The digital world is your oyster, with data at the ready to be seized and manipulated to your benefit – and this is how our company is taking the leap into the digital unknown, in hopes that others will be inspired to take the leap start reaping the benefits with us.

Specialists in IIoT and Industry 4.0 at the Manufacturing Technology Centre have developed the first stage of Europe's first smart factory demonstrator for the manufacture of electronic assemblies, helping electronics manufacturers “go digital”, transforming their businesses, and meeting the demands of an increasingly challenging market.

MTC's digital engineering experts are working with key vendors to develop and evolve a range of digital processes that help electronics manufacturers improve productivity and quality, whilst becoming agile to meet the most aggressive time to market constraints.

The project is supported by OEM and technology supplier members of the MTC from a variety of industrial sectors, ensuring the project has industry steer as well as the latest in technology, which has been integrated and proven within the demonstrator. This includes technology such as augmented reality (AR).