A piecewise linear model for analyzing thin film/substrate structure in flexible electronics

The conventional analytical method of predicting strain in a thin film under bending is restricted to the uniform material assumption, while in flexible electronics, the film/substrate structure is widely used with mismatched material properties taken into account. In this paper, a piecewise model is proposed to analyze the axial strain in a thin film of flexible electronics with the shear modification factor and principle of virtual work. The excellent agreement between analytical prediction and finite element results indicates that the model is capable of predicting the strain of the film/substrate structure in flexible electronics, whose mechanical stability and electrical performance is dependent on the strain state in the thin film.