Explainable Damage Models for Functional Ageing Effects in Abraded Copper Coated Textiles

Conductive textiles offer an unobtrusive solution for novel sensor and actuator applications. The electric and textile compound, however, is bound by its physical properties, which are dependent on environment and previous use. Due to degradation, variations of sensor readings as well as a different actuator behaviour are possible. By analysing ageing effects of the carrier and the electrical material, a more detailed analysis of the current ageing state and estimated remaining useful life can be made. In this paper, we conduct load tests and accelerated ageing tests with copper-plated textiles and analyse their ageing behaviour. We calculate statistical characteristics from the measured resistances, create a novel model for conductive coated tracks on textile substrates and predict the remaining useful life with curve fitting and prediction techniques. The method of modeling copper deposition as a square resistance allows a simple characterization of the conductive surface and, for the first time, of the wear and aging of exposed areas due to abrasion. The determination of the characteristics and the aging process can be performed on resource-limited hardware and thus allows the use of mobile and self-calibrating systems.