Title :
A novel fabrication process to realise piezoelectric cantilever structures for smart fabric sensor applications
Author :
Yang Wei ; Torah, Russel ; Kai Yang ; Beeby, Steve ; Tudor, John
Author_Institution :
Electron. & Comput. Sci., Univ. of Southampton, Southampton, UK
Abstract :
This paper reports a novel process for realising freestanding piezoelectric cantilevers printed on fabric for potential use as a wearable sensor. Piezoelectric cantilever structures were fabricated by screen printing a piezoelectric stack on top of a structural layer that is supported by a sacrificial material during printing. The sacrificial layer was subsequently removed in an oven at 160 °C for 30 minutes which is sufficient to fully release the cantilever beam from the substrate. The samples were polarised by applying an electric field across the piezoelectric stack. Testing on an electromechanical shaker shows that the cantilevers have resonant frequencies at 390 and 260 Hz for beam lengths of 12 and 15 mm, respectively. The beams produced maximum outputs of 38 and 27 mV at an acceleration of 11.76 m/s2, respectively.
Keywords :
cantilevers; fabrics; intelligent sensors; microfabrication; microsensors; piezoelectric transducers; printing; MEMS sensors; electric field; electromechanical shaker; fabrication process; freestanding piezoelectric cantilever structures; frequency 260 kHz; frequency 390 kHz; piezoelectric stack; sacrificial material; screen printing; smart fabric sensor applications; temperature 160 degC; time 30 min; voltage 27 mV; voltage 38 mV; wearable sensor; Curing; Fabrication; Fabrics; Polymers; Printing; Resonant frequency;
Conference_Titel :
Sensors, 2012 IEEE
Conference_Location :
Taipei
Print_ISBN :
978-1-4577-1766-6
Electronic_ISBN :
1930-0395
DOI :
10.1109/ICSENS.2012.6411076