Characterization of low-cost inkjet printed-photonic cured strain gauges for remote sensing and structural monitoring applications

Juho Kerminen, Jenny Wiklund, Alp Karakoç*, Kalle Ruttik, Riku Jäntti, Hüseyin Yiǧitler

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleScientificpeer-review

4 Citations (Scopus)
136 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

In the present work, cost-effective strain gauges were fabricated by using inkjet printing and photonic curing on flexible and recyclable PET substrates. Ohmic resistance (a.k.a. DC resistance) (R0) and complex electrical impedance (Z) as a function of test frequency were characterized, respectively, with the state-of-the-art electronic testing equipments. For the fabrication process, commercially available silver nanoparticle (AgNP) inks and substrates were used. In order to validate the in-house cantilever beam measurement setup and devices, first, commercially available metallic foil strain gauges (with the provided gauge factor GF=2.0 by the manufacturer) were tested at different locations. Thereafter, the printed strain gauges were investigated with several repetitions at different measurement locations. The measurement results demonstrated an affordable, rapid and tailorable design and repeatable fabrication approach for strain gauges with GFavg∼6.6, which has potential applications in remote sensing and structural monitoring applications.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)647-660
Number of pages14
JournalResearch on Engineering Structures and Materials
Volume7
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 5 Dec 2021
MoE publication typeA1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

  • Impedance
  • Monitoring and sensing technologies
  • Printed electronics
  • Strain gauges

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