Earticle

Single walled carbon nanotube shows excellent chemical and physical properties and it has been extensively explored for novel applications. It has been shown that single walled carbon nanotube can be used to improve sensitivity of sensors such as bio sensors, gas sensors and mechanicals sensor by its unique properties. As a mechanical sensor, a mechanical force deforms the single walled carbon nanotubes and changes its electrical properties such as resistivity. The deformation results in changing of electrical structure such as band gap of single walled carbon nanotubes. In this study, we fabricate a strain sensor using single walled carbon nanotubes with an efficient structure. The structure contains aligned and multiple numbers of single walled carbon nanotubes to raise sensitivity of the strain sensor. The structure fabricated in this study is much reliable and efficient compared to the sensor with individual single walled carbon nanotube.

Cellulose based electro-active paper (EAPap) is a new smart material that has a potential to be used in biomimetic actuator and sensor. Beside of the natural abundance, cellulose EAPap is fascinating with its biodegradability, lightweight, high mechanical strength and low actuation voltage. An actuating mechanism of EAPap is revealed to be the combination of ion migration effect and piezoelectricity. EAPap can generate the electrical current and voltage when the mechanical stress applied due to its electro-mechanical characteristics. In this paper, we investigated the feasibility of EAPap as a mechanical strain sensor.

Currently, potentiometric method has been employed to measure fuel amount for automobile. However, potentiometer could be malfunctioned or damaged due to the additives or dirt in fuel because a variable electric resistor is immersed in fuel. Therefore, a device employing strain sensor is designed and tested to verify the possibility as an alternative of the conventional fuel sender. Existing fuel tank has irregular cross section. Therefore, buoyancy is not increased linearly as fuel amount is increased. We design a floater that can compensate the irregular cross section of fuel tank and make buoyancy to increase linearly with increasing fuel amount. New fuel sender, comprising of strain gages on circular membrane, the above commented floater and the cover to prevent the disturbance due to sudden acceleration and deceleration, is designed and tested to replace current fuel sender. On the other hand, we are developing strain sensor that has strain gage deposited directly on the circular membrane with cantilever beam.

As several innovative technologies for flexible electric devices are being realized, demand for in-situ strain monitoring for flexible electric devices is being emphasized. Because flexible devices are commonly influenced by substrate strain, suitable strain sensors for flexible devices are essential for the sophisticated maneuvering of flexible devices. In this study, a flexible strain sensor based on an Ag electrode is prepared on a polyimide substrate using the LDW (laser direct writing) process. In this process, first, the Ag nanoparticles are coated on the substrate and selectively sintered using a focused laser. Because of the advantages of the LDW process (such as being mask-less, using low temperatures, and having non-vacuum characteristics), the entire fabrication process has been dramatically simplified; as a final outcome, a highly reliable strain sensor has been fabricated. Using this strain sensor, various strain conditions that arise from different bending radii can be detected by measuring real-time electrical signals.

Carbon nanofibers (CNFs) are electrically conductive. When CNFs are used as fillers in resin, this electrical conductivity can be yielded without adversely affecting the mechanical properties of the resin. When an elastomer is adopted as the resin, a conductive elastomer can then be produced. Due to its flexibility and conductive properties, a large strain sensor based on changes in resistivity may be produced, for strain sensing in flexible structures. In this study, a patch-type large strain sensor using resistivity change in a CNF/elastomer composite was proposed. The measurement limits of the sensor were investigated experimentally, and the limit was found to be 40%, which greatly exceeded the limits of conventional metal-foiled strain gages. Also, the proposed CNF/elastomer large strain sensor can be used to measure flexible materials, while conventional strain gages cannot be used to measure such strains.

Brillouin scattering-based fiber optic sensors are useful to measure strain or temperature in a distributed manner. Since the Brillouin frequency of an optical fiber depends on both the strain and temperature, it is very important to know whether the Brillouin frequency shift is caused by the strain change or temperature change. This article presents a temperature compensation technique of a Brillouin scattering-based fiber optic strain sensor. Both the changes of the Brillouin frequency and the Brillouin gain power is observed for the temperature compensation using a BOTDA sensor system. Experimental results showed that the temperature compensated strain values were highly consistent with actual strain values.

Carbon nanotube strain sensors, or so called "fuzzy fiber" sensors have not yet been studied sufficiently. These sensors are composed of a bundle of fiberglass fibers coated with CNT through a thermal chemical vapor deposition process. The characteristics of these fuzzy fiber sensors differ from a conventional nanocomposite in that the CNTs are anchored to a substrate fiber and the CNTs have a preferential orientation due to this bonding to the substrate fiber. A numerical model was constructed to predict the strain response of a composite with embedded fuzzy fiber sensors in order to compare result with the experimental results obtained in an earlier study. A comparison of the numerical and experimental responses was conducted based on this work. The longitudinal sensor output from the model matches nearly perfectly with the experimental results. The transverse and off-axis tests follow the correct trends; however the magnitude of the output does not match well with the experimental data. An explanation of the disparity is proposed based on microstructural interactions between individual nanotubes within the sensor.

피복이 없는 FBG센서는 내구성이 매우 약하기 때문에 FBG센서 주위의 피복이 없이는, 많은 변수가 존재하는 실제 자연환경에서의 정확한 데이터수집이 어렵다. Steel sleeve packaged FBG 변형률 센서는 토목공학에서 널리 사용되고 있는 센서 중 하나이다. 변형률과 온도가 동시에 측정되는 FBG센서의 도입 이후로, 변형률과 온도의 정확한 보정은 필수적인 과정이 되었다. 이 논문에서는 FBG의 변형률과 온도의 측정 원리에 기초하여 steel sleeve packaged FBG센서의 온도보정 기술을 도출하였다. 그리고 두개의 FBG센서를 이용한 콘크리트 초기재령의 건조수축 실험을 통해 온도보정의 실행 가능성을 확인하였다.

As bare Fiber Bragg Grating (FBG) sensors are very fragile, bare FBG without encapsulation is not properly applied in practical infrastructures directly due to the harsh environment in practical engineering. Steel sleeve packaged FBG strain sensor is widely used in civil engineering. Since FBG senses both strain and temperature simultaneously, for accurate measurement of strain, temperature compensation for FBG strain sensors is indispensable. In this paper, based on the FBG's strain and temperature sensing principles, the temperature compensation techniques for steel sleeve packaged FBG sensors are brought forward. And the experiment of concrete early-age shrinkage monitoring by dual FBG sensors is carried out to test the feasibility of the temperature compensation technique.

고강도 콘크리트는 낮은 물-시멘트 비와 혼화제의 첨가로 인해 타설 후 극 초기재령에서 큰 자기수축과 온도변형이 발생한다. 이것은 고강도 콘크리트 구조물의 초기재령에서의 균열을 초래할것이고, 고강도 콘크리트의 내구성에 영향을 미칠 것 이다. 그러므로 고강도 콘크리트의 초기재령 특성에 집중할 필요가 있다. 이 논문에서는 매설형 FBG 센서를 이용하여 고강도 콘크리트의 초기재령 특성을 모니터링 하였다. 결과에서는 고강도 콘크리트 타설 후 하루동안 변형이 급격히 증가함을 보여 주었다. 그리고 변형량의 값은 $85{\mu}{\varepsilon}$ 이상이며, 두달간의 변형량($280{\mu}{\varepsilon}$)의 30%에 해당한다. 고강도콘크리트의 내구성과 침투성을 고려하면, 첫째날의 변형률은 꽤 높아 무시할 수 없는 수치이다. 또한 연속성, 안정성, 다양한 복합기술 등 FBG 센서의 보다 높은 성능이 증명 되었다.

For high performance concrete, due to its low water cement ratio (water binder ratio) and addition of mineral admixtures, pretty high autogenous shrinkage and thermal deformation occur at very early age of casting (especially before hardening). This may lead to early age cracking of HPC structures, and then may influence the durability of HPC. This paper has monitored the early age properties of HPC successfully by embedded FBG strain sensor. The results showed that the deformation increased rapidly within the first day after HPC casting. And its value is up to $85{\mu}{\varepsilon}$, which is the 30% of two-month deformation ($280{\mu}{\varepsilon}$). Considering the durability and permeability of HPC, the first-day deformation is pretty high and can not be neglected. Also the superior capability of FBG sensors such as continuity, stability and multiplexed technique etc, has been demonstrated.

The performance of a fiber Bragg grating strain sensor constructed with 3$\times$3 coupler is investigated. A 3$\times$3 coupler Mach-Zehnder (M/Z) interferometer is used as wavelength discriminator, interrogating strain-induced Bragg wavelength shifts. Two quadrature-phase-shifted intensities are synthesized from the as-coupled interferometer outputs, and digital arctangent demodulation and phase unwrapping algorithm are applied to extract the phase information proportional to strain. Due to the linear relation between the input strain and the output of quadrature signal processing, signal-fading problems eliminated. In the experiment, a fiber grating that was surface adhered on an aluminum beam was strained in different ways, and the photodetector signals were transferred and processed in a computer-controlled processing unit. A phase recovery fo 7.8$\pi$ pk-pk excursion, which corresponds to ~650$\mu$strain pk-pk of applied strain, was demonstrated. The sensor system was stable over the environmental intensi쇼 perturbations because of the self-referencing effect in the demodulation process.

This study presents a method to monitor cable force using wireless sensor nodes and piezoelectric sensors. The following approaches are carried out to achieve the objective. Firstly, the principle of piezoelectric materials (e.g., PZT) as strain sensors is reviewed. A cable force estimation method using dynamic features of cables measured by piezoelectric materials is presented. Secondly, the design of an automated cable force monitoring system using the data acquisition sensor-node Imote2/SHM-DAQ is described. The sensor node is originally developed by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and is adopted in this study to monitor strain-induced voltage from PZT sensors. The advantages of the system are cheap, and eligible for wireless communication and automated operation. Finally, the feasibility of the proposed monitoring system is evaluated on a lab-scaled cable.

Wearable multi-sensors based on nanocrystals have attracted significant attention, and studies on patterning technology to implement such multi-sensors are underway. Conventional patterning processes may affect material properties based on high temperatures and harsh chemical conditions. In this study, we developed an inkjet printing technique that can overcome these drawbacks through the application of patterning processes at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. Nanocrystal-based ink is used to adjust properties efficiently. Additionally, the viscosity and surface tension of the solvents are investigated and optimized to increase patterning performance. In the patterning process, the electrical, electrothermal, and electromechanical properties of the nanocrystal pattern are controlled by the ligand exchange process. Experimental results demonstrate that a multi-sensor with a temperature coefficient of resistance of 3.82 × 10^-3 K^-1 and gauge factor of 30.6 can be successfully fabricated using one-step inkjet printing.

We experimentally investigated the mechanical and electrical characteristics of the poly vinyl alcohol(PVA) hydrogel which have attracted special interest as a mechanochemical material, and the applicability of the hydrogel membrane to a sensor for measuring large strain. As a result, the PVA hydrogel could be regarded as a Hookean elastic material and was treated as an electric resistance which was proportional to the tensile strain within a linearly elastic range.

Structures can be evaluated their health status by allowable loading criteria. These criteria can be determined by the maximum strain. Therefore, in order to detect this maximum strain of structures, fiber optic Bragg grating(FBG) sensor probes are newly designed and fabricated to perform the memorizing detection even if the sensor system is on-and-off. The probe is constructed with an FBG optical fiber embedded in silver epoxy. When the load is applied and removed on the structure, the residual strain remains in the silver epoxy to memorize the maximum strain effect. In this study, a commercial Al-foil bonded FBG sensor probe was tested to investigate the detection feasibility at first. FBG sensor probes with silver epoxy were fabricated as three different sizes. The detection feasibility of maximum strain was studied by doing the tensile tests of CFRP specimens bonded with these FBG sensor probes. It was investigated the sensitivity coefficient defined as the maximum strain divided by the residual strain. The highest sensitivity was 0.078 of the thin probe having the thickness of 2 mm.

The reinforced concrete(RC) structures strengthened with fiber reinforced plastic(FRP) has been accepted by the construction engineering community for rehabilitation. FRP composites can present many advantages like a corrosion resistance, strength-weight ratio, relatively short application time, and cost effectiveness. The beams under design load, however, are cracked and result in degrading the strength. It is difficult to recognize cracks and deflections on the surface of the concrete members retrofitted with FRP through the life cycle. For these reasons, if they result in the effects, which were below the expected strength, we must monitor the state of concrete structures all the time in order to take an appropriate measure. Fiber Bragg Grating(FBG) sensor excel as monitoring of investigating the stress state of the retrofitted beams with FRP. The main objective of this study is to measure strain by experiment and analyze the behavior of RC beams retrofitted with FRP using FBG sensor. The kinds of FRP which were used in research are carbon, glass and improved hybrid FRP(IFRP) that has capacity than any other FRP. Other variables are the length of FRP, the number of sheet.

Residual stress and strain buildup in the hybrid carbon/phenolic (CP) composite was estimated using embedded fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensors. Two different carbon fabrics made from polyacrylonitrile (PAN) and rayon fibers were used. The partially delaminated hybrid composite was fabricated for the real-time and nondestructive estimation of the residual stress and strain during the cure process. The strain measured by FBG sensors embedded in the delaminated region was assumed to represent the thermal deformation of each reinforcing lamina. After the cure process was finished, PAN-based (PC) and rayon-based (RC) carbon laminae were under compression and tension, respectively, in in-plane direction because the strain of RC was 4.4 times lager than that of PC. The residual stresses of PC and RC laminae under the assumption of elasticity were -16.9 and 7.92 Mpa, respectively. The experimental results showed good agreements with those by FEM analysis.

In order to do continuous health monitoring of large structures, it is necessary that the distributed sensing of strain and temperature of the structures be measured. So, we present the temperature compensation of a signal from a fiber optic BOTDA (Brillouin Optical Time Domain Analysis) sensor. A fiber optic BOTDA sensor has good performance of strain measurement. However, the signal of a fiber optic BOTDA sensor is influenced by strain and temperature. Therefore, we applied an optical fiber on the beam as follows: one part of the fiber, which is sensitive to the strain and the temperature, is bonded on the surface of the beam and another part of the fiber, which is only sensitive to the temperature, is located nearby the strain sensing fiber. Therefore, the strains can be determined from the strain sensing fiber while compensating for the temperature from the temperature sensing fiber. These measured strains were compared with the strains from electrical strain gages. After temperature compensation, it was concluded that the strains from the fiber optic BOTDA sensor had good coincidence with those values of the conventional electrical strain gages.

Nd:YAG Laser를 이용하여 polyimide film에 탄화(carbonization)를 진행하여 Carbon을 생성하여 저가의 센서를 간단한 제조과정으로 만들었다. 이를 통하여 유연한 저가형 압저항 센서의 특성에 관한 연구를 수행하였다. 기존에 많은 연구들이 Polyimide에 $10.6{\mu}m$의 파장을 가지는 $CO_2$ laser를 이용하여 carbonization을 하여 센서를 제작하였다. 본 논문에서는 polyimide film에 $1.064{\mu}m$의 파장을 가지는Nd:YAG laser를 이용하여 carbonization(탄화공정)을 진행하였다. 또한 Nd:YAG laser를 사용하여 polyimide film위에 직접 탄화시키며 carbon을 생성하는 최적의 전력밀도($W/cm^2$)과 속도(scan rate) 조건 조합을 찾아 해상도를 높였다. $CO_2$ laser를 사용하였던 기존의 선행연구에서는 carbon생성의 최소 선폭이 $140{\sim}220{\mu}m$의 길이를 가졌지만, 본 연구에서는 카본의 생성되는 선폭이 $35{\sim}40{\mu}m$으로 축소시켰다. 이번 연구에서 제작된 센서의 초기 면저항은 $100{\sim}300{\Omega}/{\square}$ 이였다. 곡률 반경 21 R 로 인장을 하였을 때 저항이 30% 줄어들었고, 이를 통하여 계산된 게이지 팩터는 56.6이였다. 본 연구는 압저항 센서를 제조하기 위한 단순하고, 매우 유연하고 저렴한 공정을 제공한다.

Nd:YAG laser was used to carbonize polyimide films to produce carbon films. This is a simple manufacturing process to fabricate low cost sensors. By applying this method, we studied characteristics of flexible and low-cost piezoresistive. Previously, many studies focused on carbonization of polyimide using $CO_2$ laser with wavelength of $10.6{\mu}m$. In this paper, carbonization (carbonization process) was performed on polyimide films using an Nd:YAG laser with a wavelength of $1.064{\mu}m$. In order to increase the resolution, we optimized the laser conditions of the power density ($W/cm^2$) and the beam scan rate. In previous studies using $CO_2$ laser, the minimum line width was $140{\sim}220{\mu}m$ but in this study, carbon line width was reduced to $35{\sim}40{\mu}m$. The initial sheet resistance of the carbon sensor was $100{\sim}300{\Omega}/{\square}$. The resistance decreased by 30% under stretched with a curvature radius of 21 R. The calculated gauge factor was 56.6. This work offers a simple, highly flexible, and low-cost process to fabricate piezoresistive sensors.