Particle-based films are today an important part of various designs and they are implemented in structures as conductive parts, i.e., conductive paste printing in the manufacture of Li-ion batteries, solar cells or resistive paste printing in IC. Recently, particle based films were also implemented in the 3D printing technique, and are particularly important for use in aircraft, wind power, and the automotive industry when incorporated onto the surface of composite structures for protection against damages caused by a lightning strike. A crucial issue for the lightning protection area is to realize films with high homogeneity of electrical resistance where an in-situ noninvasive method has to be elaborated for quality monitoring to avoid undesirable financial and time costs. In this work the drying process of particle based films was investigated by high-frequency eddy current (HFEC) spectroscopy in order to work out an automated in-situ quality monitoring method with a focus on the electrical resistance of the films. Different types of particle based films deposited on dielectric and carbon fiber reinforced plastic substrates were investigated in the present study and results show that the HFEC method offers a good opportunity to monitor the overall drying process of particle based films. Based on that, an algorithm was developed, allowing prediction of the final electrical resistance of the particle based films throughout the drying process, and was successfully implemented in a prototype system based on the EddyCus® HFEC device platform presented in this work. This prototype is the first solution for a portable system allowing HFEC measurement on huge and uneven surfaces.

Particle-based films are today an important part of various designs and they are implemented in structures as conductive parts, i.e., conductive paste printing in the manufacture of Li-ion batteries, solar cells or resistive paste printing in IC. Recently, particle based films were also implemented in the 3D printing technique, and are particularly important for use in aircraft, wind power, and the automotive industry when incorporated onto the surface of composite structures for protection against damages caused by a lightning strike. A crucial issue for the lightning protection area is to realize films with high homogeneity of electrical resistance where an in-situ noninvasive method has to be elaborated for quality monitoring to avoid undesirable financial and time costs. In this work the drying process of particle based films was investigated by high-frequency eddy current (HFEC) spectroscopy in order to work out an automated in-situ quality monitoring method with a focus on the electrical resistance of the films. Different types of particle based films deposited on dielectric and carbon fiber reinforced plastic substrates were investigated in the present study and results show that the HFEC method offers a good opportunity to monitor the overall drying process of particle based films. Based on that, an algorithm was developed, allowing prediction of the final electrical resistance of the particle based films throughout the drying process, and was successfully implemented in a prototype system based on the EddyCus® HFEC device platform presented in this work. This prototype is the first solution for a portable system allowing HFEC measurement on huge and uneven surfaces.