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Flexible Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring

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A special issue of Sensors (ISSN 1424-8220). This special issue belongs to the section "Sensor Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2020) | Viewed by 36073

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Simon Laflamme

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Interests: smart systems; smart structures; sensors; structural health monitoring; real-time learning
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Kenneth Loh

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Guest Editor

1. Department of Structural Engineering, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA
2. Active, Responsive, Multifunctional, and Ordered-Materials Research (ARMOR) Laboratory, Jacobs School of Engineering, The University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Dr, La Jolla, CA, USA
Interests: stimuli-responsive materials; nanocomposites; sensors and actuators; soft materials; tomography
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Dr. Donghyeon Ryu

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Guest Editor

Mechanical Engineering, New Mexico Tech, Socorro, NM 87801, USA
Interests: multifunctional materials and composites; mechano-luminescence-optoelectronic composites; multi-modal sensor technologies; energy harvesting; structural health monitoring of aerospace structures; human sensing

Dr. Austin Downey

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Guest Editor

College of Engineering and Computing, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
Interests: multifunctional materials, sensor characterization, and embedded dense sensor networks

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Recent advances in materials and electronics have enabled the fabrication of flexible sensors characterized by a level of mechanical compliance that cannot be attained with traditional sensors. Flexible sensors can be easily deployed over complex geometries, used in the monitoring of large deformations, densely networked to mimic skin-type applications, etc., providing exciting new opportunities, in particular, for structural health monitoring applications, where traditional off-the-shelf sensors find limitations. The objective of this Special Issue is to generate discussions on the latest advances in research on flexible sensor technologies for structural health monitoring applications. Topics of interest include but are not limited to:

Novel sensing materials;
Multifunctional flexible applications;
Field applications and case studies;
Flexible electronics for flexible sensing;
Compliant sensing systems;
Skin-type sensors;
Monitoring of complex geometries.

Dr. Simon Laflamme
Dr. Kenneth J. Loh
Dr. Donghyeon Ryu
Dr. Austin Downey
Guest Editors

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Keywords

Novel sensing materials
Multifunctional flexible applications
Field applications and case studies
Flexible electronics for flexible sensing
Compliant sensing systems
Skin-type sensors
Monitoring of complex geometries

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Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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17 pages, 24210 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Numerical Investigation of Auxetic Textured Soft Strain Gauge for Monitoring Animal Skin

by Han Liu, Matthias Kollosche, Jin Yan, Eric M. Zellner, Sarah A. Bentil, Iris V. Rivero, Colin Wiersema and Simon Laflamme

Sensors 2020, 20(15), 4185; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20154185 - 28 Jul 2020

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 5187

Abstract

Recent advances in hyperelastic materials and self-sensing sensor designs have enabled the creation of dense compliant sensor networks for the cost-effective monitoring of structures. The authors have proposed a sensing skin based on soft polymer composites by developing soft elastomeric capacitor (SEC) technology that transduces geometric variations into a measurable change in capacitance. A limitation of the technology is in its low gauge factor and lack of sensing directionality. In this paper, we propose a corrugated SEC through surface texture, which provides improvements in its performance by significantly decreasing its transverse Poisson’s ratio, and thus improving its sensing directionality and gauge factor. We investigate patterns inspired by auxetic structures for enhanced unidirectional strain monitoring. Numerical models are constructed and validated to evaluate the performance of textured SECs, and to study their performance at monitoring strain on animal skin. Results show that the auxetic patterns can yield a significant increase in the overall gauge factor and decrease the stress experienced by the animal skin, with the re-entrant hexagonal honeycomb pattern outperforming all of the other patterns. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flexible Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring)

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14 pages, 10652 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Instrumentation of Stratospheric Balloon Straps with Optical Fibre for Temperature and Strain Monitoring

by Yann Lecieux, Cyril Lupi, Dominique Leduc, Quentin Macé, Valentin Jeanneau and Pascale Guigue

Sensors 2020, 20(5), 1433; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20051433 - 6 Mar 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 2824

Abstract

This article is devoted to the instrumentation, with optical fibres, of the straps holding the envelope of stratospheric balloons. This instrumentation is motivated in the first instance by the need to validate the numerical models used in the design of balloons. It must also be used to measure the temperature along the envelope in order to deduce the pressure field. It is shown at first that the optical fibres can be inserted inside a strap during its fabrication. Different kinds of insertion are considered, none of them perturb the industrial process. The instrumented straps were then submitted to thermal and mechanical tests and the distributed Brillouin frequency shifts were measured. We thus determined the type of insertion to be used according to the parameter (temperature or strain) to be measured and assessed the performance of the measurement chain. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flexible Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring)

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11 pages, 5541 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Low-Cost Strain Gauge Displacement Sensor Fabricated via Shadow Mask Printing

by Ying Yi, Bo Wang and Amine Bermak

Sensors 2019, 19(21), 4713; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19214713 - 30 Oct 2019

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 5925

Abstract

This work presents a cost-effective shadow mask printing approach to fabricate flexible sensors. The liquid-state sensing material can be directly brushed on a flexible substrate through a shadow mask. The ink leakage issue which often occurs in printed electronics is addressed with a custom taping scheme. A simple thermal compression bonding approach is also proposed to package the functional area of the sensor. To verify the feasibility and robustness of the proposed fabrication approach, a prototyped strain gauge displacement sensor is fabricated using carbon ink as the sensing material and a flexible polyimide (PI) film as the substrate. Once the substrate is deformed, cracks in the solidified ink layer can cause an increased resistance in the conductive path, thus achieving function of stable displacement/strain sensing. As a demonstration for displacement sensing application, this sensor is evaluated by studying its real-time resistance response under both static and dynamic mechanical loading. The fabricated sensor shows a comparable performance (with a gauge factor of ~17.6) to those fabricated using costly lithography or inkjet printing schemes, while with a significantly lower production cost. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flexible Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring)

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14 pages, 3798 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Epoxy Composites with Reduced Graphene Oxide–Cellulose Nanofiber Hybrid Filler and Their Application in Concrete Strain and Crack Monitoring

by Zhiqiang Wu, Jun Wei, Rongzhen Dong and Hao Chen

Sensors 2019, 19(18), 3963; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19183963 - 13 Sep 2019

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 4427

Abstract

Advances in nanotechnology have provided approaches for the fabrication of new composite materials for sensing. Flexible sensors can make up for the shortcomings of traditional strain sensors in monitoring the surface strain and cracks of concrete structures. Using reduced graphene oxide (RGO) as a conductive filler, cellulose nanofiber (CNF) as a dispersant and structural skeleton, and waterborne epoxy (WEP) as a polymer matrix, a flexible composite material with piezoresistive effect was prepared by the solution blending and solvent evaporation method. The mechanical, electrical, and electromechanical properties of the composite were investigated. The results show that CNF can significantly improve the dispersion of RGO in the WEP matrix and help to form stable reinforcing and conductive networks, leading to great changes in the mechanical properties and resistivity of the composite. The composite film can withstand large deformations (>55% strain), and the resistance change rate demonstrates a high sensitivity to mechanical strain with a gauge factor of 34–71. Within a 4% strain range, the piezoresistive property of the composite is stable with good linearity and repeatability. The performance of the flexible film sensor made of the composite is tested and it can monitor the strain and crack of the concrete surface well. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flexible Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring)

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14 pages, 4417 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Fatigue Performance of Type I Fibre Bragg Grating Strain Sensors

by Naizhong Zhang, Claire Davis, Wing K. Chiu, Tommy Boilard and Martin Bernier

Sensors 2019, 19(16), 3524; https://doi.org/10.3390/s19163524 - 12 Aug 2019

Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3591

Abstract

Although fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) offer obvious potential for use in high-density, high-strain sensing applications, the adoption of this technology in the historically conservative aerospace industry has been slow. There are several contributing factors, one of which is variability in the reported performance of these sensors in harsh and fatigue prone environments. This paper reports on a comparative evaluation of the fatigue performance of FBG sensors written according to the same specifications using three different grating manufacturing processes: sensors written in stripped and re-coated fibres, sensors written during the fibre draw process and sensors written through fibre coating. Fatigue cycling of the fibres is provided by a customized electro-dynamically actuated loading assembly designed to provide high frequency and amplitude loading. Pre- and post-fatigue microscopic analysis and high-resolution transmission and reflection spectra scanning are conducted to investigate the fatigue performance of FBGs, the failure regions of fibres as well as any fatigue-related effects on the spectral profiles. It was found that because of the unique fabrication method, the sensors written through the fibre coating, also known as trans-jacket FBGs, show better fatigue performance than stripped and re-coated FBGs with greater control possible to tailor the optical reflection properties compared to gratings written in the draw tower. This emerging method for inscription of Type I gratings opens up the potential for mass production of higher reflectivity, apodised sensors with dense or complex array architectures which can be adopted as sensors for harsh environments such as in defence and aerospace industries. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flexible Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring)

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Review

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28 pages, 16341 KiB

Open AccessReview

Integration of Conductive Materials with Textile Structures, an Overview

by Granch Berhe Tseghai, Benny Malengier, Kinde Anlay Fante, Abreha Bayrau Nigusse and Lieva Van Langenhove

Sensors 2020, 20(23), 6910; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20236910 - 3 Dec 2020

Cited by 67 | Viewed by 12941

Abstract

In the last three decades, the development of new kinds of textiles, so-called smart and interactive textiles, has continued unabated. Smart textile materials and their applications are set to drastically boom as the demand for these textiles has been increasing by the emergence of new fibers, new fabrics, and innovative processing technologies. Moreover, people are eagerly demanding washable, flexible, lightweight, and robust e-textiles. These features depend on the properties of the starting material, the post-treatment, and the integration techniques. In this work, a comprehensive review has been conducted on the integration techniques of conductive materials in and onto a textile structure. The review showed that an e-textile can be developed by applying a conductive component on the surface of a textile substrate via plating, printing, coating, and other surface techniques, or by producing a textile substrate from metals and inherently conductive polymers via the creation of fibers and construction of yarns and fabrics with these. In addition, conductive filament fibers or yarns can be also integrated into conventional textile substrates during the fabrication like braiding, weaving, and knitting or as a post-fabrication of the textile fabric via embroidering. Additionally, layer-by-layer 3D printing of the entire smart textile components is possible, and the concept of 4D could play a significant role in advancing the status of smart textiles to a new level. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Flexible Sensors for Structural Health Monitoring)

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