Overview
IEC 62899-202-9:2023 - "Printed electronics - Part 202-9: Materials - Conductive ink - Printed patterns for mechanical test" defines standard printed patterns and test requirements to evaluate the electrical reliability of conductive inks and printed conductive layers under mechanical deformation. The standard provides reproducible pattern geometries, tolerances and measurement practices so that different inks and processes can be compared when sample dimensions are identical.
Key topics and technical requirements
- Scope: Basic printed trace and pad geometries for mechanical tests that assess electrical continuity and degradation under deformation.
- Mechanical test types covered: bending test, torsion test, and rolling test (patterns tailored for each deformation mode).
- Standard environmental conditions: temperature (23 ± 2) °C; relative humidity (50 ± 10) % (paper substrates: 50 ± 2 %).
- Pattern dimensions and tolerances: sample length/width tolerance ±1 mm; printed pattern length/width tolerance ±10 %. Example recommended dimensions for bending tests:
- Sample length (A): 70 mm
- Sample width (B): 10–30 mm
- Pad size (P): 1–5 mm
- Margin (M): 0–5 mm
- Pattern width (W): 0.01 mm–3 mm (selected by printing technique)
- Design rules for testing: pads for electrical probe contact, margin areas to avoid gripping damage, and guidance to exclude printed line area from grips for in situ resistance measurements.
- Measurement and reporting: procedures for electrical resistance measurement during or after deformation and standardized result reporting for bending, torsion and rolling tests (see clauses on electrical measurement and reporting).
Applications and who uses it
IEC 62899-202-9 is practical for:
- Conductive ink suppliers - to benchmark ink mechanical durability and communicate performance to customers.
- Printed electronics manufacturers and R&D teams - for development of flexible displays, sensors, printed circuit traces, wearable devices, batteries and other flexible printed devices.
- Test laboratories and QA engineers - to establish repeatable mechanical stress tests (bending/ torsion/ rolling) and produce comparable data across products, processes and suppliers.
- Equipment and process engineers - to select appropriate printing techniques (inkjet, screen, gravure) and line widths based on testable geometries.
Using these standard printed patterns helps accelerate material selection, process optimization and reliability validation for flexible printed electronics and conductive ink applications.
Related standards
Keywords: IEC 62899-202-9:2023, printed electronics, conductive ink, printed patterns, mechanical test, bending test, torsion test, rolling test, electrical reliability.
Open preview (PDF)Printed electronics - Part 202-9: Materials - Conductive ink - Printed patterns for mechanical test
