New-Tech Europe Magazine | Q1 2020

Electric vehicle applications are beginning to emerge too, where FPCs produced using the IHT process are expected to be adopted in high- and low-voltage harnesses for electric vehicle battery packs. Here, the FPC may combine power, control and monitoring circuits. Conclusion With the trend towards sustainability and protecting the environment, there are many new developments to come in the automotive and aerospace markets. Future projects include electric vehicles, UAVs, more efficient aircraft engines and satellite technology. These, and others, in the medical and industrial arena will benefit from the design and manufacture of flexible circuits of unlimited length.

controlled features have increased exponentially in recent years. There can be from 30 to 100 electronic control units in today’s vehicles, covering every aspect from engine management, passive and active safety, and passenger comfort. Luxury models can contain up to 1,500 copper wires, totalling a mile or more in length, which all need to be interconnected. The percentage will only rise with the influx of electric and autonomous vehicles. The civil aerospace sector follows much the same trends. In any aircraft, saving weight is particularly crucial as it affects operating costs and emissions. IHT makes it possible to create a single flexible circuit structure that can span aircraft wings or reach from nose to tail. Important sub- system and system level benefits

are gained, as the FPC becomes a subsystem itself. IHT may also enable distributed electronics, including sensing and signal conditioning functionality, to be integrated into the circuit. This effectively creates a smart interconnect, entirely replacing passive wire harness interconnects. In aerospace applications, flexible circuits have been shown to reduce weight by up to 75% over traditional wire harnesses. One recent application of IHT involves a 10m long, 6-layer, arc- tracking compliant harness for a commercial airliner. Other aerospace projects include a 42m multilayer circuit for a power transfer harness for a roll-out solar array for spacecraft and a 26m long shielded FPC for transferring power and signals across the wingspan of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV).

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