• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.373-378
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• 2015

The structure of the human ear is divided into the outer ear, the middle ear, and the inner ear. The inner ear includes the cochlea that plays a very important role in hearing. Recently, the development of an artificial cochlear device for the hearing impaired with cochlear damage has been actively researched. Research has been carried out on the biomimetic piezoelectric thin film ABM (Artificial Basilar Membrane) in particular. In an effort to improve the frequency separation performance of the existing piezoelectric thin film ABM, this paper presents the design, fabrication, and characterization of the production and performance of a partially etched-type ABM material. $O_2$ plasma etching equipment was used to partially etch a piezoelectric thin film ABM to make it more flexible. The mechanical-behavior characterization of the manufactured partially etched-type ABM showed that the overall separation frequency range shifted to a lower frequency range more suitable for audible frequency bandwidths and it displayed an improved frequency separation performance. In addition, the maximum magnitude of the vibration displacement at the first local resonant frequency was enhanced by three times from 38 nm to 112 nm. It is expected that the newly designed, partially etched-type ABM will improve the issue of cross-talk between nearby electrodes and that the manufactured partially etched-type ABM will be utilized for next-generation ABM research.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.535-547
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• 2012

Controlling the balance of motion in a context involving a biped robot navigating a rugged surface or a step is a difficult task. In the present study, a $3{\times}5$ flexible piezoelectric tactile sensor array is developed to provide a foot pressure map and zero moment point for a biped robot. We introduce an innovative concept involving structural electrodes on a piezoelectric film in order to improve the sensitivity. The tactile sensor consists of a polymer piezoelectric film, PVDF, between two patterned flexible print circuit substrates (FPC). Additionally, a silicon rubber bump-like structure is attached to the FPC and covered by a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layer. Experimental results show that the output signal of the sensor exhibits a linear behavior within 0.2 N ~ 9 N, while its sensitivity is approximately 42 mV/N. According to the characteristic of the tactile sensor, the readout module is designed for an in-situ display of the pressure magnitudes and distribution within $3{\times}5$ taxels. Furthermore, the trajectory of the zero moment point (ZMP) can also be calculated by this program. Consequently, our tactile sensor module can provide the pressure map and ZMP information to the in-situ feedback to control the balance of moment for a biped robot.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.452-458
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• 2013

Impedance based monitoring technique was investigated to evaluate the damage occurring in wind turbine blade. In this study, PVDF film piezo sensors were patched on the 10 kW wind turbine blade, and impedance was measured over the frequency range of 1~200 MHz under fatigue loading. With applying fatigue loads on the blade, change in maximum deflection of the blade and local strain values could be obtained from the strain gages attached on the blade, and difference of the impedance signatures was also observed. From these data, it could be found that local damage or geometrical change in the blade structure happened. To quantitatively compare the impedance signature patterns, a statistical algorithm, scalar damage metric M was used. It was calculated from the impedance signatures considering fatigue loads and location of the sensors. The metric values were compared to correlate the metrics with damage in the blade.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2003.06a
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• pp.251-255
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• 2003

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and calibration of a piezoelectric polymer-based sensorized microgripper. Electro discharge machining technology is employed to fabricate super-elastic alloy based micro gripper. It is tested to present improvement of mechanical performance. For integration of force sensor on the micro gripper, the sensor design based on the piezoelectric polymer PVDF film and fabrication process are presented. The calibration and performance test of force sensor integrated micro gripper are experimentally carried out. The force sensor integrated micro gripper is applied to perform fine alignment tasks of micro opto-electrical components. It successfully supplies force feedback to the operator through the haptic device and plays a main role in preventing damage of assembly parts by adjusting the teaching command.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.1772-1777
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• 2003

This paper presents the design, fabrication, and calibration of a piezoelectric polymer-based sensorized microgripper. Electro discharge machining technology is employed to fabricate super-elastic alloy based micro gripper. It is tested to present improvement of mechanical performance. For integration of force sensor on the micro gripper, the sensor design based on the piezoelectric polymer PVDF film and fabrication process are presented. The calibration and performance test of force sensor integrated micro gripper are experimentally carried out. The force sensor integrated micro gripper is applied to perform fme alignment tasks of micro opto-electrical components. It successfully supplies force feedback to the operator through the haptic device and plays a main role in preventing damage of assembly parts by adjusting the teaching command.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.1073-1078
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• 2003

This paper presents the vibration characteristics of a cantilever beam in contact with a fluid using a PZT actuator and PVDF film. dynamic behaviors of a flexible beam-water interaction system are examined. The effect of the liquid level on free vibration of the composite beam in a partially liquid-filled circular cylinder is investigated. The coupled system is subject to an undisturbed boundary condition un the fluid domain. In the vibration analysis of a wetted beam. the decoupled analyses between beam and fluid have been conventionally employed by considering first the composite beam vibration in the all and secondly Performing the correction taking account for surrounding fluid effects. That is, this investigation was to look at how natural frequencies, mode shapes. and damping are affected by liquid level variations. The signals from the sensor according to the applied input voltage are digitalized and filtered in order to obtain the dynamic characteristics of the composite beam in contact with fluid. It was found that the coupled natural frequencies decreased with the fluid level for the identical composite beam due to added mass effect. In case of the free-free boundary condition, the natural frequency gently decreased at fluid water level between 20% and 80% in the first tending mode and we found out the bends of stair shape for added mass effect of the fluid.

• Journal of the Korean Vacuum Society
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.221-228
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• 2009

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the fabrication of $\beta$-PVDF($\beta$-Polyvinylidene fluoride, $\beta$-PVF2) organic thin films through the vapor deposition method and to investigate the ultrasonic response properties of the organic thin films produced. Vapor deposition was performed under the following conditions : the temperature of evaporator, the applied electric field and the pressure of reaction chamber were $270^{\circ}C$, 142.4 kV/cm and $2.0{\times}10^{-5}\;Torr$, respectively. The results showed that the degree of crystallinity increased from 47% to 67.8% with an increase in the substrate temperature. In the case of a sensor response characteristic by varying the distance from 1cm to 100cm, the output voltage decreased from 0.615V to 0.4V.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.207-210
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• 2002

This paper is concerned with the experiments on the active vibration control of a plate with piezoceramic sensors and actuators. The natural frequencies of the composite plate featured by a piezo-film sensor and piezo-ceramic actuator are calculated by using the modal analysis method. Modal coordinates are introduced to obtain the state equations of the structural system. Six natural frequencies were considered in the modelling, because robust control theory which has inherent robustness to structured uncertainty is adopted to suppress the transients vibrations of a glass fiber reinforced(GFR) composite beam. A robust controller satisfying the nominal performance and robust performance is designed using robust theory based on the structured singular value. Simulations were carried out with the designed controller and effectiveness of the robust control strategy was verified by results.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.9-17
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• 1993

Three types of piezoelectric sensors to detect acoustic emission signals were developed and characterized. Epicentral displacement and velocity of a plate to have infinite boundary were calculated by convolution between a Green's function and a simulated source time function to show parabolic rising characteristic. The sensor calibration system set up was composed of a steel plate, a glass capillary, an indentor and a load cell indicator The transient elastic signals were detected by the sensors. The results were compared with the theoretical results and Fast Fourier Transformed. As the results, the sensor fabricated using a disk shape of a piezoelectric PZT element showed resonant characteristics. The sensors fabricated using a conical shape PZT element and a PVDF polymer film showed the wide band characteristics for particle displacement and velocity, respectively. The calculated results showed good agreements with the transient responses in the cases of the wide band sensors and it was confirmed that the simulated source time function had been properly assumed.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1993-2001
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• 2006

The piezoelectric bimorph film, which, as an actuator, can generate more effective displacement than the usual PVDF film, is used to control the turbulent boundary-layer flow. The change of wall pressures inside the turbulent boundary layer is observed by using the multi-channel microphone array flush-mounted on the surface when actuation at the non-dimensional frequency $f_b^+$:=0.008 and 0.028 is applied to the turbulent boundary layer. The wall pressure characteristics by the actuation to produce local displacement are more dominantly influenced by the size of the actuator module than the actuation frequency. The movement of large-scale turbulent structures to the upper layer is found to be the main mechanism of the reduction in the wall- pressure energy spectrum when the 700$700{\nu}/u_{\tau}$-long bimorph film is periodically actuated at the non- dimensional frequency $f_b^+$:=0.008 and 0.028. The biomorph actuator is triggered with the time delay for the active forcing at a single frequency when a 1/8' pressure-type, pin-holed microphone sensor detects the large-amplitude pressure event by the turbulent spot. The wall-pressure energy in the late-transitional boundary layer is partially reduced near the convection wavenumber by the open-loop control based on the large amplitude event.