• 한국기계가공학회지
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.63-71
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• 2020

Recently, to improve convenience, flexible electronics are quickly being developed for a number of application areas. Flexible electronic devices comprise characters such as being bendable, stretchable, foldable, and wearable. Effectively manufacturing flexible electronic devices requires high efficiency, low costs, and simple processes for manufacturing technology. Through this study, we enabled the rapid production of multifunctional flexible bending sensors using a simple, low-cost Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) 3D printer. Furthermore, we demonstrated the possibility of the rapid production of a range of functional flexible bending sensors using a simple, low-cost FDM 3D printer. Accurate and reproducible functional materials made by FDM 3D printers are an effective tool for the fabrication of flexible sensor electronic devices. The 3D-printed flexible bending sensor consisted of polyurethane and a conductive filament. Two patterns of electrodes (straight and Hilbert curve) for the 3D printing flexible sensor were fabricated and analyzed for the characteristics of bending displacement. The experimental results showed that the straight curve electrode sensor sensing ability was superior to the Hilbert curve electrode sensor, and the electrical conductivity of the Hilbert curve electrode sensor is better than the straight curve electrode sensor. The results of this study will be very useful for the fabrication of various 3D-printed flexible sensor devices with multiple degrees of freedom that are not limited by size and shape.