Department of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering, University of Calgary, 2500 University Drive N.W., Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada.
Sensors (Basel). 2018 Nov 6;18(11):3789. doi: 10.3390/s18113789.
Sensors provide aninterface between mechanical systems and the physical world. With the move towardsIndustry 4.0 and cyber-physical systems, demands for cost-effective sensors are rapidly increasing. Conventional sensors used for monitoring manufacturing processes are often bulky and need complex processes. In this study, a novel high-sensitive nanocomposite-based sensor is developed for measuring strain. The developed sensor is comprised of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as a piezoelectric polymer matrix, and embedded carbon nanotube (CNT) nanoparticles creating a conductive network. Exhibiting both piezoelectric and piezoresistive properties, the developed sensors are capable of strain measurement over a wide frequency band, including static and dynamic measurements. The piezoresistive and piezoelectric properties are fused to improve the overall sensitivity and frequency bandwidth of the sensor. To simulate the sensor, a 3D random walk model and a 2D finite element (FE) model are used to predict the electrical resistivity and the piezoelectric characteristics of the sensor, respectively. The developed models are verified with the experimental results. The developed nanocomposite sensors were employed for strain measurement of a cantilever beam under static load, impulse excitation, free and forced vibrations, collecting both piezoelectric and piezoresistive properties measurements. The obtained signals were fused and compared with those of a reference sensor. The results show that the sensor is capable of strain measurement in the range of 0⁻10 kHz, indicating its effectiveness at measuring both static and high frequency signals which is an important feature of the sensor.
传感器提供了机械系统与物理世界之间的接口。随着工业 4.0 和信息物理系统的发展，对具有成本效益的传感器的需求迅速增加。用于监测制造过程的传统传感器通常体积庞大，需要复杂的工艺。在这项研究中，开发了一种用于测量应变的新型基于高灵敏度纳米复合材料的传感器。所开发的传感器由聚偏二氟乙烯（PVDF）作为压电聚合物基体和嵌入的碳纳米管（CNT）纳米颗粒组成的导电网络构成。所开发的传感器具有压电和压阻特性，能够在包括静态和动态测量的宽频带内测量应变。压阻和压电特性的融合提高了传感器的整体灵敏度和频率带宽。为了模拟传感器，使用 3D 随机游走模型和 2D 有限元（FE）模型分别预测传感器的电阻率和压电特性。开发的模型通过实验结果进行验证。开发的纳米复合传感器用于在静态负载、脉冲激励、自由和强迫振动下测量悬臂梁的应变，同时采集压电和压阻特性测量。融合获得的信号并与参考传感器的信号进行比较。结果表明，该传感器能够在 0⁻10 kHz 的范围内测量应变，表明其能够测量静态和高频信号，这是传感器的一个重要特征。
