• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.4 no.5
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• pp.565-582
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• 2008

This paper presents a feasibility study of flexible piezoelectric paint for use in wide-band low-profile surface-mount or embeddable ultrasonic sensor for in situ structural health monitoring. Piezoelectric paint is a piezoelectric composite with 0-3 connectivity. Because of its ease of application, piezoelectric paint can be readily fabricated into sensing element with complex pattern. This study examines the characteristics of piezoelectric paint in acoustic emission signal and ultrasonic guided wave sensing. A series of ultrasonic tests including pitch catch and pencil break tests were performed to validate the ultrasonic wave sensing capability of piezoelectric paint. The results of finite element simulation of ultrasonic wave propagation, and acoustic emission generated by a pencil lead break on an aluminum plate are also presented in this paper along with corresponding experimental data. Based on the preliminary experimental results, the piezoelectric paint appears to offer a promising sensing material for use in real-time monitoring of crack initiation and propagation in both metallic and composite structures.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.1203-1214
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• 2015

This paper deals with the experimental validation of the use of PVDF Patches for the assessment of spatial derivatives of displacement field. It focuses more exactly on the shear Force Identification by using Specific forms of PVDF patcHes (FISH) on beams. An overview of the theoretical approach is exposed. The principle is based on the use of the weak form of the equation of motion of the beam which allows the shear forces to be extracted at one edge of the sensor when this last has a specific form. The experimental validation is carried out with a cantilever steel beam, excited by a shaker at its free boundary. The validation consists in comparing the shear force measured by the designed sensor glued at the free edge and the directly measured force applied by the shaker. The sensor is made of two patches, called the "stiffness" patch and the "mass" patch. The use of both patches allows one to identify correctly the shear force on a large frequency domain. The use of only the stiffness patch is valid in the low frequency domain and has the advantage to have a frequency-independent gain that allows its use in real time.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.22 no.5
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• pp.364-368
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• 2013

Vibrational energy harvester based on piezoelectricity has been expected to be the dominant energy harvesting technology due to the advantages of high conversion efficiency, light weight and small size, night operation, etc. Its commercialization is just around the corner but the integration with power management electronics should be solved in advance. In this paper, therefore, fully-integrated design environment for piezoelectric energy harvesting systems is presented to assist co-design with the power management electronics. The proposed design environment is capable of analyzing the energy harvester including the package-induced damping effects and simulating the device and its power management electronics simultaneously. When the developed design environment was applied to the fabricated device, the simulated resonant frequency matched well with the experimental result with a difference of 2.97% only. Also, the complex transient response was completed in short simulation time of 3,001 seconds including the displacement distribution over the device geometry. Furthermore, a full-bridge power management circuit was modeled and simulated with the energy harvester simultaneously. Therefore the proposed, fully-integrated design environment is accurate and fast enough for the contribution on successful commercialization of piezoelectric energy harvester.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.205-215
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• 2019

A flexible polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composite prototype with high piezoelectricity and force sensitivity was constructed, and its huge potential for applications such as biomechanical energy harvesting, self-powered health monitoring system, and pressure sensors was proved. The crystallization, piezoelectric, and electrical properties of the composites were characterized using an X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiment and customized experimental setups. The composite can sustain up to 100% strain, which is a huge improvement over monolithic PVDF fibers and other PVDF-based composites in the literature. The Young's modulus is 1.64 MPa, which is closely matched with the flexibility of the human skin, and shows the possibility for integrating PVDF/PDMS composites into wearable devices and implantable medical devices. The $300{\mu}m$ thick composite has a 14% volume fraction of PVDF fibers and produces high piezoelectricity with piezoelectric charge constants $d_{31}=19pC/N$ and $d_{33}=34pC/N$, and piezoelectric voltage constants $g_{31}=33.9mV/N$ and $g_{33}=61.2mV/N$. Under a 10 Hz actuation, the output voltage was measured at 190 mVpp, which is the largest output signal generated from a PVDF fiber-based prototype.

• Transactions on Electrical and Electronic Materials
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.171-176
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• 2012

As langasite $A_3BC_3D_2O_{14}$ compounds with piezoelectric properties exhibit no phase transition up to the melting point of 1,400-$1,500^{\circ}C$, many high temperature applications are expected for the SAW filter, temperature sensor, pressure sensor, and so on, based on the digital transformation of wider bandwidth and higher-bit rates. It has a larger electromechanical coupling factor compared to quartz and also nearly the same temperature stability as quartz. The $La_3Ga_5SiO_{14}$ (LGS) crystal with the $Ca_3Ga_2Ge_4O_{14}$-type crystal structure was synthesized and the crystal structure was analyzed by Mill et al. It is also an important feature that the growth of the single crystal is easy. In the case of three-element compounds such as $[R_3]_A[Ga]_B[Ga_3]_C[GaSi]_DO_{14}$ (R=La, Pr and Nd), the piezoelectric constant increases with the ionic radius of R. In this study, crystal structures of four-element compounds such as $[A_3]_A[B]_B[Ga_3]_C[Si_2]_DO_{14}$ (A = Ca or Sr, B = Ta or Nb) are analyzed by a single crystal X-ray diffraction, and the mechanism and properties of the piezoelectricity depending on the species of cation was clarified based on the crystal structure.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2008.11a
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• pp.71-81
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• 2008

This paper proposes a spectral element which can represent dynamic responses in high frequency domain such as Lamb waves on a thin plate. A two layer beam model under 2-D plane strain condition is introduced to simulate high-frequency dynamic responses induced by piezoelectric layer (PZT layer) bonded on a base plate. In the two layer beam model, a PZT layer is assumed to be rigidly bonded on a base beam. Mindlin-Herrmann and Timoshenko beam theories are employed to represent the first symmetric and anti-symmetric Lamb wave modes on a base plate, respectively. The Bernoulli beam theory and 1-D linear piezoelectricity are used to model the electro-mechanical behavior of a PZT layer. The equations of motions of a two layer beam model are derived through Hamilton's principle. The necessary boundary conditions associated with electro mechanical properties of a PZT layer are formulated in the context of dual functions of a PZT layer as an actuator and a sensor. General spectral shape functions of response field and the associated boundary conditions are formulated through equations of motions converted into frequency domain. A detailed spectrum element formulation for composing the dynamic stiffness matrix of a two layer beam model is presented as well. The validity of the proposed spectral element is demonstrated through comparison results with the conventional 2-D FEM and the previously developed spectral elements.

• Transactions of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering
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• v.18 no.11
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• pp.1157-1169
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• 2008

This paper presents spectral element formulation which approximates Lamb wave propagation by PZT transducers bonded on a thin plate. A two layer beam model under 2-D plane strain condition is introduced to simulate high-frequency dynamic responses induced by a piezoelectric (PZT) layer rigidly bonded on a base plate. Mindlin-Herrmann and Timoshenko beam theories are employed to represent the first symmetric and anti-symmetric Lamb wave modes on a base plate, respectively. The Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and 1-D linear piezoelectricity are used to model the electro-mechanical behavior of a PZT layer. The equations of motions of a two layer beam model are derived through Hamilton's principle. The necessary boundary conditions associated with the electro-mechanical properties of a PZT layer are formulated in the context of dual functions of a PZT layer as an actuator and a sensor. General spectral shape functions of response field and the associated boundary conditions are obtained through equations of motions converted into frequency domain. Detailed spectrum element formulation for composing the dynamic stiffness matrix of a two layer beam model is presented as well. The validity of the proposed spectral element is demonstrated through numerical examples.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.27 no.8
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• pp.1388-1397
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• 2003

Since the reliability of adhesively bonded joints for composite structures is dependent on many parameters such as the shape and dimensions of joints, type of applied load, and environment, so an accurate estimation of the fatigue life of adhesively bonded joints is seldom possible, which necessitates an in-situ reliability monitoring of the joints during the operation of structures. In this study, a self-sensor method for adhesively bonded joints was devised, in which the adhesive used works as a piezoelectric material to send changing signals depending on the integrity of the joint. From the investigation, it was found that the electric charge increased gradually as cracks initiated and propagated in the adhesive layer, and had its maximum value when the adhesively bonded joint failed. So it is feasible to monitor the integrity of the joint during its lifetime. Finally, a relationship between the piezoelectric property of the adhesive and crack propagation was obtained from the experimental results.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2009.10a
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• pp.198-201
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• 2009

Due to piezoelectric property of regenerated cellulose paper, a green energy harvester using an electro-active paper (EAPap) was studied. In order to design the green energy harvester, we simulated cymbal type energy harvesting structures for single and multi-stacked layers of EAPap films. From the simulation, the optimized material orientation, thickness of harvesting structure was selected. By measuring of the induced output voltage by applying stress on energy harvester will be explained in detail. Therefore we propose the feasibility of the nature-friendly piezoelectric EAPap as a new green energy harvesting material.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society for Noise and Vibration Engineering Conference
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• 2007.11a
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• pp.73-76
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• 2007

Electro-Active paper (EAPap) is a new smart material that has a potential to be used in biomimetic actuator and sensor. It is made by cellulose that is abundant material in nature. EAPap is fascinating with its biodegradability, lightweight, large displacement, high mechanical strength and low actuation voltage. Actuating mechanism of EAPap is known to be the combined effects of ion migration and piezoelectricity. However, the electromechanical actuation mechanisms are not yet to be established. This paper presents the modeling of the actuation behavior of water infused cellulose samples and their composite dielectric constants calculated by Maxwell-Wagner theory. Electro-mechanical forces were calculated using Maxwell stress tensor method. Bending deflection was evaluated from simple beam model and compared with experimental observation, which result good correlation with each other.