Permittivity of 3D-Printed Nylon Substrates with Different Infill Patterns and Densities for Design of Microwave Components

Printed circuit boards, chemical etching, and computer numerical control milling currently dominate industrial processes for manufacturing microwave components. However, these manufacturing methods do not provide the flexibility for customization possible with additive manufacturing. Additive manufacturing (AM) has the potential to fabricate microwave components for desired frequency ranges with less effort in prototyping and fabrication. Relative permittivity (εr) of materials is a critical parameter in microwave component design, yet the value changes during the AM process. This article investigates how relative permittivity for nylon substrates, created with AM, changes with different infill densities and infill patterns. The measurement method and procedure can be used to design AM microwave components like antennas or dielectric-filled waveguides with desired characteristics. The two-microstrip-line method was used and improved for the accurate and convenient measurement of the relative permittivity of AM nylon substrates. Several nylon substrates with different infill patterns, including rectangular, hexagonal, triangular, and solid, were fabricated with AM to demonstrate how the relative permittivity value changes as the infill density increases. A linear relationship between the infill density of the rectangular pattern and the substrate permittivity was found. The permittivity data were applied to the design of a rectangular patch antenna for use in the 2.5-GHz WiMAX band. The fabricated antenna with AM, which was tested using a vector network analyzer, showed good agreement with simulation results. The method and procedure of permittivity measurements are specially designed to be applied in the design of microwave components with AM dielectric substrates.

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Path optimization of CNC PCB drilling using hybrid Taguchi genetic algorithm

Kybernetes ◽

10.1108/k-03-2015-0069 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 45 (1) ◽

pp. 107-125 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Dony Hidayat Al-Janan ◽

Tung-Kuan Liu

Keyword(s):

Genetic Algorithm ◽

Printed Circuit Boards ◽

Numerical Control ◽

Circuit Boards ◽

Improved Genetic Algorithm ◽

Solution Quality ◽

Content Type ◽

Neighbor Search ◽

Feasible Solutions ◽

The Traveling Salesman Problem

Purpose – In this study, the hybrid Taguchi genetic algorithm (HTGA) was used to optimize the computer numerical control-printed circuit boards drilling path. The optimization was performed by searching for the shortest route for the drilling path. The number of feasible solutions is exponentially related to the number of hole positions. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Therefore, a traveling cutting tool problem (TCP), which is similar to the traveling salesman problem, was used to evaluate the drilling path; this evaluation is considered an NP-hard problem. In this paper, an improved genetic algorithm embedded in the Taguchi method and a neighbor search method are proposed for improving the solution quality. The classical TCP problems proposed by Lim et al. (2014) were used for validating the performance of the proposed algorithm. Findings – Results showed that the proposed algorithm outperforms a previous study in robustness and convergence speed. Originality/value – The HTGA has not been used for optimizing the drilling path. This study shows that the HTGA can be applied to complex problems.

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An Educational Scheme for a CNC Drilling Machine

International Journal of Manufacturing Materials and Mechanical Engineering ◽

10.4018/ijmmme.2012040101 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 1-11 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Salah Haridy ◽

Zhang Wu ◽

Amro Shafik

Keyword(s):

Printed Circuit Boards ◽

Numerical Data ◽

Numerical Control ◽

Electronic Systems ◽

Parallel Port ◽

Circuit Boards ◽

Cnc Machine ◽

Printed Circuit ◽

Stepper Motors ◽

C Program

Computer numerical control (CNC) involves machines controlled by electronic systems designed to accept numerical data and other instructions, usually in a coded form. CNC machines are more productive than conventional equipment and consequently produce parts at less cost and higher accuracy even when the higher investment is considered. This article proposes an educational scheme for designing a CNC machine for drilling printed circuit boards (PCB) holes with small diameters. The machine consists of three-independently move-fully controlled tables. Output pulses from the personal computer (PC) parallel port are used to control the machine after processing by an interface card. A flexible, responsive and real-time visual C # program is developed to control the motion of the stepper motors. The educational scheme proposed in this article can provide engineers and students in academic institutions with a simple foundation to efficiently build a CNC machine based on the available resources.

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Sustainable Additive Manufacturing of Printed Circuit Boards

Joule ◽

10.1016/j.joule.2018.03.015 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 2 (4) ◽

pp. 579-582 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Yue Dong ◽

Chao Bao ◽

Woo Soo Kim

Keyword(s):

Additive Manufacturing ◽

Printed Circuit Boards ◽

Circuit Boards ◽

Printed Circuit

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Heterogeneous Process Development for Electronic Device Packaging with Direct Printed Additive Manufacturing

International Symposium on Microelectronics ◽

10.4071/isom-2012-wp56 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 2012 (1) ◽

pp. 000961-000966

Author(s):

R. X. Rodriguez ◽

K. Church ◽

X. Chen

Keyword(s):

Additive Manufacturing ◽

Printed Circuit Boards ◽

Printed Circuit Board ◽

Process Development ◽

Electronic Device ◽

Circuit Board ◽

Circuit Boards ◽

Printed Circuit ◽

Wire Bonds ◽

The Status

Next generation electronics will not change drastically in function; batteries will last longer, devices will have more functions and devices will take unique shapes, but for the next several years, electronics will travel the path it has been traveling for a couple of decades. To meet the demands of more functions per device and unique shapes, the status quo of electronic manufacturing cannot persist. Solder, wire bonds, FR4, printed circuit boards, surface mount and packaging will fight for survival, but just as hand held phones have evolved, so will the electronics that support them. Standard electronic packaging techniques are reaching size and density limits forcing a search for alternative approaches. The idea of using Additive Manufacturing as an alternative for packaging has not been taken seriously, but there is an opportunity to demonstrate the significant advantages of true 3D electronic packages by allowing the package to be the printed circuit board and by utilizing direct print and bare die approaches to print and structure diverse electronics.

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Structural Electronics through Additive Manufacturing and Micro-Dispensing

International Symposium on Microelectronics ◽

10.4071/isom-2010-tha5-paper6 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2010 (1) ◽

pp. 000940-000946 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Richard Olivas ◽

Rudy Salas ◽

Dan Muse ◽

Eric MacDonald ◽

Ryan Wicker ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Additive Manufacturing ◽

Printed Circuit Boards ◽

Fused Deposition Modeling ◽

Complex Form ◽

Circuit Boards ◽

Ultrasonic Consolidation ◽

Integrated Electronics ◽

Fused Deposition ◽

Novel Approach ◽

Structural Electronics

Implementing electronics systems that are conformal with curved and complex surfaces is difficult if not impossible with traditional fabrication techniques, which require stiff, two dimensional printed circuit boards (PCB). Flexible copper based fabrication is currently available commercially providing conformance, but not simultaneously stiffness. Consequently, these systems are susceptible to reliability problems if bent or stretched repeatedly. The integration of Additive Manufacturing (AM) combined with Direct Print (DP) micro-dispensing can provide shapes of arbitrary and complex form which incorporate 1) miniature cavities for insetting electronic components and 2) conductive traces for electrical interconnect between components. The fabrication freedom introduced by AM techniques such as stereolithography (SL), ultrasonic consolidation (UC), and fused deposition modeling (FDM) have only recently been explored in the context of electronics integration. Advanced dispensing processes have been integrated into these systems allowing for the introduction of conductive inks to serve as electrical interconnect within intricately-detailed dielectric structures. This paper describes a process that provides a novel approach for the fabrication of stiff conformal structures with integrated electronics and describes several prototype demonstrations: a body conformal helmet insert for detection of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI), a 3D magnetic flux sensor with LED indicators for magnitude and direction and a floating sensor capable of detecting impurities in water while maintaining orientation through density gradients.

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