The RAPID 2013 Conference & Exposition Directory - Society of ...

in the future of manufacturing, influencing product design to
reduce costs while enhancing component functionality.
2-2:25 pm
Pulsed Photonic Curing of
Printed Functional Materials
Denis Cormier, Earl W. Brinkman Professor, Industrial
and Systems Testing, Rochester Institute of Technology
Stan Farnsworth, Vice President of Marketing, NovaCentrix
The growing interest in hybrid processes that integrate
electronics within additively manufactured parts can present
significant challenges when the materials involved have
significantly different melting/curing temperatures. Photonic
curing has been used to rapidly heat printed inks and functional
films to temperatures in excess of 1000°C on low-temperature
substrates such as polymers and paper. It is therefore very well
suited for use within hybrid multi-material AM processes. This
presentation will begin with an overview of the process as well
as a discussion of its strengths and limitations. The talk will
then provide examples of high-temperature functional materials
that have been printed on polymer AM part surfaces and then
photonically cured. The talk will conclude with a discussion of
practical lessons learned.
2:30–2:55 pm
3D Structural Electronics Fabrication
Using Fused Deposition Modeling
and Direct-Write Micro-dispensing
David Espalin, Graduate Research Associate, University of Texas
at El Paso (W.M. Keck Center for 3D Innovation)
Additive manufacturing fabricated unmanned aerial vehicles
(UAVs) with integrated or printed electronics offer 3D design
and electronic packaging flexibility that may facilitate UAV
multi-role performance (i.e., reconnaissance, combat, and
logistics) and as such have received much attention in the AM
community as of late. Fundamentally, the advancement of 3D
structural electronics using AM partly hinges on effectively
interconnecting electronic components. In this particular case,
the dispensing of conductive inks on FDM produced surfaces
presented several challenges including those related to wetting,
electrical shorting between interconnections, and unintentional
ink spreading throughout the part. As a solution to some of these
issues, interconnection channels were used to confine or retain
inks at the desired locations and prevent electrical shorting or
ink spreading. Additionally, interconnection channels produced
using micromachining achieved micro-scale features. Through
this work, it was determined that FDM processing parameters
and machining depths influenced successful electrical
interconnection—which in the end, could be used to produce
functional electronic systems using FDM.
3–3:25 pm
RF Printed Circuit Structures Using
a Commercially Available Direct Print Tool
Ken Church, PhD, President, nScrypt Inc.
The mechanical segment of 3D printing has penetrated the
manufacturing barrier, but the electrical segment has not.
It is clear that mechanical structures are more mature than
their electrical counter parts, but for the electrical segment to
mature it must accomplish what the mechanical structures have
accomplished; perform at a level that meets or exceeds stateof-the-art.
3D electronic structures that have unique shape but
inferior performance will be novel but not pervasive. To address
the electrical performance issue it is imperative to involve
electrical experts in 3D printing. A number of companies and
universities are working on 3D electronic devices and this will
provide a foundation for future products, but more is needed to
make this a viable solution for true printed circuits.
nScrypt sells commercial tools for the electronic industry and
has recently added an nScrypt Fused Deposition (nFD) pump on
their micro-dispensing platform. 3D printing of next generation
printed circuit structures has the potential to penetrate an
existing printed circuit boards market; a commercially available
3D printing tool can make this viable. nScrypt and the University
of South Florida have teamed up to utilize this tool and work in
the more challenging RF regime of printed electronics. Multi-bit
RF phase shifters are challenging for any fabrication process
and 3D printing these can show improvement in ruggedness
and durability without degrading the performance. This has
implications that reach into many industries, including the
Department of Defense. In addition to the DoD, the printed
circuit boards market for consumer products is in excess of
$50B annually. For these industries to embrace the 3D printing
approach, the tools must be commercially available and
6/2013 – RAPID 53