Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Science/2021 December 1

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December 1

Mechanical durability of RFID tags

Today, at least in Sweden, we use RFID tags for "everything", especially for unlocking doors (so a tag is used instead of a traditional, dumb metallic key). At least I do believe that "RFID tag" is the proper name for this kind of thing, even though the Wikipedia article on RFID tags doesn't contain a single image of the kind of tag I am talking about (although one image comes close).

In any case, I am interested in the mechanical durability of these things. For example, being rather clumsy, I regularly drop my keys (dumb metallic ones + RFID tags) on the floor. Fortunately, I am not excessively tall, so the distanced travelled during the fall never exceeds 1.2 metres. But the floor may be made of stone.

Can such a fall destroy an RFID tag? --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:25, 1 December 2021 (UTC)

I assume this is a passive RFID tag (no battery on board). An RFID tag is a very thin circuit and would be extremely delicate if not attached to a substrate. Many materials that can form a layer can serve for this purpose, provided they are not conductive themselves, including paper. For an RFID tag that serves as a key and has to be handled many times, a common approach would be to embed it in a plastic casing, giving it a form factor like a casino chip or a key fob. For obvious reasons, the material should be neither brittle nor extremely pliable. One approach is paper laminated with PVC, as is common for plastic cards. The PVC is relatively rigid and the lamination gives increased strength and crack resistance, but the lamination may come undone. A casing made of ABS, also relatively rigid but more durable and with excellent properties such as impact resistance and toughness, may be more common. In either case, as long as the casing does not crack, the embedded RFID tag should survive falls and other mishaps.  --Lambiam 23:16, 1 December 2021 (UTC)

Thank you for your answer. It seems like I don't need to worry too much about this. --Andreas Rejbrand (talk) 20:17, 3 December 2021 (UTC)

Resolved