Purpose – The encapsulation of electronic assemblies within thermoplastic polymers is an attractive technology for the protection of circuitry used in harsh environments, such as those experienced in automotive applications. However, the relatively low‐thermal conductivity of the encapsulating polymer will introduce a thermally insulating barrier, which will impact on the dissipation of heat from the components and may result in the build‐up of stresses in the structure. This paper therefore seeks to present the results from computational models used to investigate the thermal and thermo‐mechanical issues arising during the operation of such electronic modules. In particular, a two‐shot overmoulded structure comprising an inner layer of water soluble and an outer layer of conventional engineering thermoplastics was investigated, due to this type of structure's potential to enable the easy separation of the electronics from the polymer at the end‐of‐life for recycling.Design/methodology/approach – Represen...
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