PREDICTING, MEASURING AND TAILORING ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES FOR NEW COMPOSITE MATERIALS USED IN AUTOMOTIVE SENSORS

Abstract

The paper focuses on a micromechanical approach for predicting the electrical conductivity of a new multiphase polymeric composite materials developed with the purpose of achieving improved electrical properties vs. reduced manufacturing costs for automotive sensors. The composites were developed by embeding different particle size, types and volume fraction of conductive particles into a polymeric matrix material. The electrical property retrieved from measurements on several composite samples is the electrical resitivity, at low current densities, and its variation in time by the aid of a Wayne-Kerr analyzer. Simple mathematical manipulation will enable electrical conductivity estimation and further comparisons with the theoretical predicted values. Structural composition, particle distribution and boundary related aspects will aid electrical path characterization, percolation threshold identification and particle-particle combination tailoring measures.