FABRICATION, OPTIMIZATION, AND CHARACTERIZATION OF PDMS/CNF NANOCOMPOSITE SENSOR ARRAYS

摘要

This paper presents the fabrication, optimization, and characterization of in-situ pressure sensor arrays using polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and carbon nanofibers (CNFs) nanocomposites. We first synthesize and characterize the nanocomposites to identify the optimal material formulation and fabrication procedure. Structural optimization algorithms and finite element method are employed to optimize the geometries of sensors. Pressure sensing units in cylinder and conical shapes are fabricated using the optimized material formulation and geometries. Two prototypes of sensors arrays are assembled and tested under different pressure load conditions. The long term sensor performance is validated using cyclic compression tests.