A fundamental study of printed ink resiliency for harsh mechanical and thermal environmental applications

The integration of novel additively manufactured (AM) materials and processes with traditional materials and manufacturing techniques, including the insertion of commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components such as resistors, switches, batteries and light emitting diodes (LEDs), has led to the development of increasingly complex 'hybrid' electronics including: antennas, waveguides, radio frequency identification (RFID) tags, various sensors, circuits and devices. However, in order to utilize these novel electronics in mechanically and thermally harsh environments (e.g. defense applications), more rigorous characterization and testing methods are required. Here we examine the resiliency and radio frequency (RF) performance of two commercially available conductive inks (DuPont CB028 and KA801) printed onto a radar transparent substrate (poly ether, ether ketone; PEEK). The quality of ink adhesion, a factor found to directly correlate with antenna performance, is examined via adhesion testing after exposure to high accelerations up to 20,000 g and temperature cycling from −54 °C to +71 °C. Overall, the designs, procedures and results provide a framework for multi-materials resiliency assessment as well as aspects unique to materials resiliency under harsh environmental conditions.