Prototyping plastic conductive parts

© SKA-TSM

Before embarking on the mass-production of a sub-system, e.g. for SKA, it is imperative to have full confidence in the suitability of all its various components. In the case of newly developed items, rapid prototyping allows several iterations of testing and improvement, thus increasing confidence.

ASTRON is taking this ability to a higher level by investigating the possibilities of Moulded Interconnect Devices (3D-MID). This is a process that is widely used in the automotive and the cell phone industry, for mass-producing parts that integrate 3D plastic structures with 3D electronic circuits.

At this moment, the SKA-TSM team has succeeded in plating a complete plastic 3D-printed part with a conductive layer (bottom picture). This success can already be used for shielding purposes.

They have also succeeded in producing and 3D-printing conductive plastic. These two steps are the first towards locally metallizing plastic parts, and a step closer to prototyping 3D-MID parts.