Direct polymeric encapsulation of electronic systems for automotive applications

Over the past forty years, compelling demands for safer, cleaner and more efficient vehicles have given rise to a drastic increase in the replacement of many traditional mechanical and electrical mechanisms by more advanced electronic systems. Due to their harsh operating environments, automotive electronic systems are subject to failures from thermomechanical stresses and corrosive breakdown, adversely affecting their reliability and lifespan. Furthermore, the development of bus communication protocols for improved control capabilities has prompted wider systems distribution within the restricted space of a vehicle and inadvertently led to higher assembly complexity, increased vehicle weight and manufacturing costs. Despite advancements in the industry, no commercially viable process exists that is capable of providing electronic systems with sufficient robustness for their operating environments while also offering assembly consolidation to enable cost reduction. The primary focus of this thesis is the engineering of a low-cost, single-cycle process for the direct encapsulation of electronic systems within thermoplastic structures, leading to the production of robust, geometrically flexible and ready-to-assemble plastic automotive components with integrated electronics and requisite power distribution. [Continues.]