Abstract
3D Molded interconnect device (MID) is referred to as a new paradigm of manufacturing electronic circuits with high design complexity by removing conventional wiring processes. Basically, manufacturing of MIDs consists of several steps: building a structure, creating conductive traces, and pick-and-place of electrical components. A 3D structure was built in a commercial Additive manufacturing (AM) machine, and conductive wires were created using a silver paste on the 3D structure with a predetermined design of an electronic circuit. A Direct-print/cure (DPC) process was developed to draw the conductive wires on the surface and simultaneously harden the created wires using thermal/radiation energy. This DPC system consists of a micro-dispensing device and light focusing module installed in a motorized xyz stage. Resistors were also printed using the developed DPC system and a synthesized carbon nanotube (CNT)/polymer composite. The CNT/polymer composite was characterized through a rheology test and Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The resistance of the printed resistor can be controlled by varying its length and the width. Finally, an automobile cruise controller was fabricated with redesigned circuits for the suggested process and materials, which is a promising technology for building 3D MID parts.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
M. S. Kim, W. S. Chu, Y. M. Kim, A. P. G. Avila and S. H. Ahn, Direct metal printing of 3D electrical circuit using rapid prototyping, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 10 (5) (2009) 147–150.
H. Jung, Y. Kim, S. Kim, J. Jang and J. W. Hahn, Sub-micro to nanometer scale laser direct writing techniques with a contact probe, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 12 (5) (2011) 877–883.
M. I. S. Ismail, Y. Okamoto, A. Okada, Y. Uno and K. Ueoka, Direct micro-joining of flexible printed circuit and metal electrode by pulsed Nd: YAG laser, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 13 (3) (2012) 321–329.
C. M. B. Ho, S. H. Ng and Y. J. Yoon, A review on 3D printed bioimplants, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 16 (5) (2015) 1035–1046.
L. L. Lebel, B. Aissa, A. E. Khakani and D. Therriault, Ultraviolet-assisted direct-write fabrication of carbon nanotube/polymer nanocomposite microcoils, Advanced Material, 22 (5) (2010) 592–596.
F. Medina, A. Lopes, A. Inamdar, R. Hennessey, J. Palmer, B. Chavez, D. Davis, P. Gallegos and R. Wicker, Hybrid manufacturing: integrating direct write and stereolithography, Proc. of the 2005 Solid Freeform Fabrication. J. of Manufacturing Science and Engineering (2005).
A. Pique, S. A. Mathews, B. Pratap, R. C. Y. Auyeung, B. J. Karns and S. Lakeou, Embedding electronic circuits by laser direct-write, Microelectronic Engineering, 83 (11–12) (2006) 2527–2533.
Y. Lu, M. Vatani and J. W. Choi, Direct-write/cure conductive polymer nanocomposites for 3D structural electronics, JMST, 27(10) (2013) 2929–2934.
J. A. Lewis, Direct ink writing of 3D functional materials, Advanced Functional Materials, 16 (2006) 2193–2204.
G. M. Gratson, F. Garcia-Santamaria, V. Lousse, M. Xu, S. Fan, J. A. Lewis and P. V. Braun, Direct-write assembly of three-dimensional photonic crystals: conversion of polymer scaffolds to silicon hollow-woodpile structures, Advanced Materials, 18 (2006) 461–465.
R. A. Barry, R. F. Shepherd, J. N. Hanson, R. G. Nuzzo, P. Wiltzius and J. A. Lewis, Direct-write assembly of 3D hydrogel scaffolds for guided cell growth, Advanced Materials, 21 (23) (2009) 2407–2410.
J. O. Hardin, T. J. Ober, A. D. Valentine and J. A. Lewis, Microfluidic printheads for multimaterial 3D printing of viscoelastic Inks, Advanced Materials, 27 (2015) 3279–3284.
C. Chang, V. H. Tran, J. Wang, Y. K. Fuh and L. W. Lin, Direct-write piezoelectric polymeric nanogenerator with high energy conversion efficiency, Nano Letters, 10 (2) (2010) 726–731.
S. H. Jang, S. T. Oh, I. H. Lee, H-C Kim and H. Y. Cho, 3-dimensional circuit device fabrication process using stereolithography and direct writing, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 16 (7) (2015) 1361–1376.
M. Vatani, Y. Lu, E. D. Engeberg and J-W Choi, Combined 3D printing technologies and material for fabrication of tactile sensors, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacuring, 16 (7) (2015) 1375–1383.
Y-W. Park, O-K Oh and M. D. Noh, Ejection feasibility of high viscosity fluid with magnetostrictive inkjet printhead, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacuring, 16 (7) (2015) 1369–1374.
B. J. Tricomi, M. S. Ozturk, X. Intes and D. T. Corr, Biofabrication and 3D localization of multilayered cellular constructs using laser direct-write and mesoscopic fluorescent molecular tomography, Biomedical Engineering Conference (NEBEC), 41st Annual Northeast. IEEE (2015).
D. M. Kingsley, A. D. Dias, D. B. Chrisey and D. T. Corr, Single-step laser-based fabrication and patterning of cellencapsulated alginate microbeads, Biofabrication, 5 (4) (2013) 045006.
D. Unnikrishnan, D. Kaddour, S. Tedjini, E. Bihar and M. Saadaoui, CPW-fed inkjet printed UWB antenna on ABSPC for integration in molded interconnect devices technology, IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, 14 (2015).
P. Amend, C. Pscherer, T. Rechtenwald, T. Frick and M. Schmidt, A fast and flexible method for manufacturing 3D molded interconnect devices by the use of a rapid prototyping technology, Physics Procedia, 5 (2010) 516–572.
A. Islam, H. N. Hansen and N. Giannekas, Quality investigation of miniaturized molded interconnect devices (MIDs) for hearing aid applications, CIRP Annals-Manufacturing Technology, 64 (2015) 539–544.
M. S. Kim, J. Yan, K. M. Kang, K. H. Joo, Y. J. Kang and S. H. Ahn, Soundproofing ability and mechanical properties of polypropylene/exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet/carbon nanotube (PP/xGnP/CNT) composite, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 14 (6) (2013) 1087–1092.
Y. C. Shin, E. Novin and H. Kim, Electrical and thermal conductivities of carbon fiber composites with high concentrations of carbon nanotubes, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 16 (3) (2015) 465–470.
L. Yoo and H. Kim, Conductivities of graphite fiber composites with single-walled carbon nanotube layers, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 12 (4) (2011) 745–748.
J. W. Park, B. H. Kim, J. G. Ok, W. J. Kim, Y. H. Kim and C. N. Chu, Wire electrical discharge machining of carbon nanofiber mats for field emission, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 13 (4) (2012) 593–599.
M. Vatani, Y. Lu, K. S Lee, H. C. Kim and J. W. Choi, Direct-write stretchable sensors using single-walled carbon nanotubes/polymer matrix, J. of Electronic Packaging, 135 (1) (2013).
I. N. Ali, Y. Takeo, N. F. Don, Y. Masako, T. Hideyuki, H. Hiroaki, I. Sumio and T. Kenji, High-power supercapacitor electrodes from single-walled carbon nanohorn/nanotube composite, ACSNANO, 5 (2) (2011) 811–819.
J. H. Sandoval, K. F. Soto, L. E. Murr and R. B. Wicker, Nanotailoring photocrosslinkable epoxy resins with multiwalled carbon nanotubes for stereolithography layered manufacturing, J. of Material Science, 42 (1) (2007) 156–165.
L. Nougaret, H. Happy, G. Dambrine, V. Derycke, J. P. Bourgoin, A. A. Green and M. C. Hersam, 80 GHz fieldeffect transistors produced using high purity semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes, Applied Physics Letters, 94 (243505) (2009).
A. Javey, J. Guo, Q. Wang, M. Lundstrom and H. Dai, Ballistic carbon nanotube field-effect transistors, Nature, 424 (2003) 654–657.
M. Engel, J. P. Small, M. Steiner, M. Freitag, A. A. Green, M. C. Hersam and P. Avouris, Thin film nanotube transistors based on self-assembled, aligned, semiconducting carbon nanotube arrays, ACSNANO, 2 (12) (2008) 2445–2452.
M. M. Shokrieh and R. Rafiee, A Review of the mechanical properties of isolated carbon nanotubes and carbon nanotube composites, Mechanics of Composite Materials, 46 (2) (2011) 155–172.
Y. Lu, M. Vatani, H. C. Kim, R. C. Lee and J. W. Choi, Development of direct printing/curing process for 3d structural electronics, International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (2013) (V02AT02A005-V02AT02A005).
M. W. Sa and J. Y. Kim, Effect of various blending ratios on the cell characteristics of PCL and PLGA scaffolds fabricated by polymer deposition system, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 14 (4) (2013) 649–655.
S. Fathi, P. Dickens and F. Fouchal, Regimes of droplet train impact on a moving surface in an additive manufacturing process, J. of Materials Processing Technology, 210 (3) (2009) 550–559.
M. Vatani, E. D. Engeberg and J. W. Choi, Force and slip detection with direct-write compliant tactile sensors using multi-walled carbon nanotube/polymer composites, Sensors and Actuators, A: Physical, 195 (1) (2013) 90–97.
E. C. Jeon, J. R. Lee, T. J. Je, D. S. Choi, Y. B. Ham, E. S. Lee, S. K. Choi and H. Kim, Quantitative analysis on airdispensing parameters for manufacturing dome lenses of chip-on-board LED system, International J. of Precision Engineering and Manufacturing, 15 (11) (2014) 2437–2441.
S. Barrau et al., DC and AC conductivity of carbon nanotubes-polyepoxy composite, Macromolecules, 36 (14) (2003) 5187–5194.
C. Li, E. T. Thostenson and T. W. Chou, Dominant role of tunneling resistance in the electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube-based composites, Applied Physics Letters, 91 (223114) (2007).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Additional information
Recommended by Editor Haedo Jeong
Yanfeng Lu is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of Akron. He received his M.S. and B.S degrees in the School of Mechanical Engineering and School of Chemical Engineering from Dalian University of Technology (DUT), China in 2011 and 2007, respectively. His current research interests include the direct-print/cure system, 3D structural electronics, and micro Additive Manufacturing.
Hae-Yong Yun is a Ph.D. candidate in the Department of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering at Andong National University. He received a B.S. and M.S. from Andong National University. His current research includes Molded Interconnect Devices (MIDs) and 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing.
Morteza Vatani is currently a Ph.D. candidate in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Akron. He received his M.S. in Mechanical Engineering/ Manufacturing from Amirkabir University of Technology in Iran in 2009. His current research focuses on developing stretchable piezoresistive sensing material and developing a hybrid direct writeadditive manufacturing system.
Ho-Chan Kim is an Associate Professor in the Department of Automotive and Mechanical Engineering at Andong National University. He received his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. from Pusan National University in 1996, 1998, and 2003, respectively. His current research interests include 3D structural electronics, 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing, and Manufacturing Information.
Jae-Won Choi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Akron (UA). His B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. were obtained from Pusan National University (PNU) in South Korea in 1999, 2001, and 2007, respectively, with a strong background of advanced manufacturing technologies. His research interests include advanced multi-scale, multimaterial additive manufacturing, stretchable sensors, tissue engineering, biomedical devices, transdermal drug delivery, 3D electronics, and direct writing.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lu, Y., Yun, HY., Vatani, M. et al. Direct-print/cure as a molded interconnect device (MID) process for fabrication of automobile cruise controllers. J Mech Sci Technol 29, 5377–5385 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-1139-1
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12206-015-1139-1
Keywords
- Additive manufacturing
- CNT/Polymer composite
- Direct-print/cure
- Molded interconnect devices