A 3D Printed, Constriction-Resistive Sensor for the Detection of Ultrasonic Waves

A 3D Printed, Constriction-Resistive Sensor for the Detection of Ultrasonic Waves

Saeb Mousavi, Philippe Blanloeuil, Thailammai Vinoth, David Howard, Chun H. Wang

download PDF

Abstract. Ultrasonic waves, either bulk waves or guided waves, are commonly used for non-destructive evaluation, for example in structural health monitoring. Traditional sensors for detecting ultrasonic waves include metallic strain gauges and piezoelectric ceramics. Recently piezoresistive nanocomposites have emerged as a promising sensor with high sensing range. In this paper, a constriction-resistive based sensor made from a graphene reinforced PLA filament is developed using a fused deposition modelling 3D printing approach as a novel type of ultrasonic sensor for structural health monitoring purposes. The sensor is made of very low-cost and recyclable thermoplastic material, which is lightweight and can be either directly printed onto the surface of various engineering structures, or embedded into the interior of a structure via fused filament fabrication 3D printing. These characteristics make this sensor a promising candidate compared to the traditional sensors in detecting ultrasonic waves for structural health monitoring. The printed sensors can detect ultrasonic signals with frequencies around 200 kHz, with good signal-to-noise ratio and sensitivity. When deployed between two adjacent printed tracks , and exploiting a novel kissing-bond mechanism, the sensor is capable of detecting ultrasonic waves. Several confirmatory experiments were carried out on this printed sensor to validate the capability of the printed sensor for structural health monitoring.

Keywords
3D Printing, Constriction-Resistive Sensor, Ultrasound Sensor, Structural Health Monitoring

Published online 2/20/2021, 6 pages
Copyright © 2021 by the author(s)
Published under license by Materials Research Forum LLC., Millersville PA, USA

Citation: Saeb Mousavi, Philippe Blanloeuil, Thailammai Vinoth, David Howard, Chun H. Wang, A 3D Printed, Constriction-Resistive Sensor for the Detection of Ultrasonic Waves, Materials Research Proceedings, Vol. 18, pp 272-277, 2021

DOI: https://doi.org/10.21741/9781644901311-33

The article was published as article 33 of the book Structural Health Monitoring

Content from this work may be used under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 licence. Any further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the title of the work, journal citation and DOI.

References
[1] W. Cao, P. Zhou, Y. Liao, X. Yang, D. Pan, Y. Li, B. Pang, LM. Zhou, Z. Su, A Spray-on, Nanocomposite-Based Sensor Network for in-Situ Active Structural Health Monitoring. Sensors 19, 9 (2019) 2077. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19092077
[2] N. Hu, T. Shimomukai, H. Fukunaga, Z. Su, Damage identification of metallic structures using A0 mode of lamb waves. Struct. Health Monit. 7 (2008) 271–285. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475921708090566
[3] H. Mei, M.F. Haider, R. Joseph, A. Migot, V. Giurgiutiu, Recent advances in piezoelectric wafer active sensors for structural health monitoring applications. Sensors 19 (2019) 383. https://doi.org/10.3390/s19020383
[4] M.F. Haider, V. Giurgiutiu, Analysis of axis symmetric circular crested elastic wave generated during crack propagation in a plate: A Helmholtz potential technique. Int. J. Solids Struct. 134 (2018) 130–150. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsolstr.2017.10.035
[5] W. Ostachowicz, R. Soman, P. Malinowski, Optimization of sensor placement for structural health monitoring: A review. Struct. Health Monit. 18, 3 (2019), 963-988. https://doi.org/10.1177/1475921719825601
[6] T. Wandowski, P. Malinowski, W. Ostachowicz, Circular sensing networks for guided waves based structural health monitoring. Mech. Syst. Sig. Process. 66 (2016) 248–267. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ymssp.2015.05.001
[7] M. Salmanpour, Z. Sharif Khodaei, M. Aliabadi, Transducer placement optimisation scheme for a delay and sum damage detection algorithm. Struct. Control Health Monit. 24 (2017) e1898. https://doi.org/10.1002/stc.1898
[8] R. Takpara, M. Duquennoy, M. Ouaftouh, C. Courtois, F. Jenot, M. Rguiti, Optimization of PZT ceramic IDT sensors for health monitoring of structures. Ultrasonics 79 (2017) 96–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ultras.2017.04.007
[9] A. D’Alessandro, M. Rallini, F. Ubertini, A.L. Materazzi, J.M. Kenny, Investigations on scalable fabrication procedures for self-sensing carbon nanotube cement-matrix composites for SHM applications. Cem. Concr. Compos. 65 (2016) 200–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2015.11.001
[10] I. Kang, M.J. Schulz, J.H. Kim, V. Shanov, D. Shi, A carbon nanotube strain sensor for structural health monitoring. Smart Mater. Struct. 15 (2006) 737–748. https://doi.org/10.1088/0964-1726/15/3/009
[11] T.H. Loutas, P. Charlaftis, A. Airoldi, P. Bettini, C. Koimtzoglou, V. Kostopoulos, Reliability of strain monitoring of composite structures via the use of optical fiber ribbon tapes for structural health monitoring purposes. Compos. Struct. 134 (2015) 762–771. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2015.08.100
[12] H. Gullapalli, V.S.M. Vemuru, A. Kumar, A. Botello-Mendez, R. Vajtai, M. Terrones, S. Nagarajaiah, P.M. Ajayan, Flexible Piezoelectric ZnO-Paper Nanocomposite Strain Sensor. Small 6 (2010) 1641–1646. https://doi.org/10.1002/smll.201000254
[13] Z. Zeng, M. Liu, H. Xu, Y. Liao, F. Duan, L. Zhou, H. Jin, Z. Zhang, Z. Su, Ultra-broadband frequency responsive sensor based on lightweight and flexible carbon nanostructured polymeric nanocomposites. Carbon 121 (2017) 490–501. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.carbon.2017.06.011
[14] Z. Zeng, M. Liu, H. Xu, Y. Liao, F. Duan, L. Zhou, H. Jin, Z. Zhang, Z. Su, A coatable, light-weight, fast-response nanocomposite sensor for the in situ acquisition of dynamic elastic disturbance: From structural vibration to ultrasonic waves. Smart Mater. Struct. 25 (2016) 065005. https://doi.org/10.1088/0964-1726/25/6/065005
[15] S. Mousavi, D. Howard, F. Zhang, J. Leng, CH. Wang, Direct 3D Printing of Highly Anisotropic, Flexible, Constriction-Resistive Sensors for Multidirectional Proprioception in Soft Robots. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 12, 13 (2020), 15631-15643. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.9b21816
[16] S. Mousavi, D. Howard, S. Wu, C.H. Wang, An ultrasensitive 3D printed tactile sensor for soft robotics, arXiv preprint, arXiv:1810.09236.
[17] Murty, Y. V. Electrical and Electronic Connectors: Materials and Technology. In Encyclopedia of Materials: Science and Technology; Buschow, K. H. J., Cahn, R. W., Flemings, M. C., Ilschner, B., Kramer, E. J., Mahajan, S., Veyssière, P., Ed.; Elsevier, 2001; pp 2483-2494. https://doi.org/10.1016/B0-08-043152-6/00450-2