• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.10 no.5
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• pp.320-328
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• 2001

Two-dimensional array hydrophones with $8{\times}8$ elements were designed and fabricated using the PVDF(Polyvinylidene fluoride) piezoelectric film, and the method and system for ultrasonic field measurement in several MHz $\sim$ tens of MHz band using the hydrophones was established. The characteristics of frequency response relating to the backing materials were analyzed with the Mason equivalent circuit for design, and the accuracy of ultrasonic field measurement relating to the sizes and kerfs of piezoelectric elements was discussed. Good results of the measurement of ultrasonic field formed by a circular plane transducer of 2.25MHz in water were obtained by the system with the array hydrophones.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers Conference
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• 2010.03a
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• pp.7-7
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• 2010

Energy harvesting from the environment has been of great interest as a standalone power source of wireless sensor nodes for Ubiquitous Sensor Networks(USN). In particular, the piezoelectric energy harvesting from ambient vibration sources has intensively researched because it has a relatively high power density comparing with other energy scavenging methods. Through recent advances in low power consumption RF transmitters and sensors, it is possible to adopt a micro-power energy harvesting system realized by MEMS technology for the system-on-chip. However, the MEMS energy harvesting system has some drawbacks such as a high natural frequency over 300 Hz and a small power generation due to a small dimension. To overcome these limitations, we devised a novel power generator with a spiral spring structure as shown in the figure. The natural frequency of a cantilever could be decreased to the usable frequency region (under 300 Hz) because the natural frequency depends on the length of a cantilever. In this study, the natural frequency of the energy harvester was a lower than a normal cantilever structure and sufficiently controllable in 50 - 200 Hz frequency region as adjusting weight of a proof mass. Moreover, the MEMS energy harvester had a high energy conversion efficiency using a shear mode ($d_{15}$) is much larger than a 33 mode ($d_{33}$) and the energy conversion efficiency is proportional to the piezoelectric constant (d). We expect the spiral type MEMS power generator would be a good candidate for a standalone power generator for USN.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.6 no.5
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• pp.392-399
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• 1997

In this study, the effect of the sintering temperature on the dielectric and piezoelectric properties of 0.5 wt% $MnO_{2}$-doped $0.125Pb(Mg_{1/2}Nb_{2/3})O_{3}-0.435PbTiO_{3}-0.44PbZrO_{3}$ ceramics were investigated aiming at ultrasonic motor applications. From experimental result, it was found that the optimal sintering temperature condition was at $1270^{\circ}C$. The sample sintered at $1270^{\circ}C$ had density of $7.72\;g/cm^{3}$, dielectric constant of 570, dielectric loss of 0.82%, remanent polarization of $19.18{\mu}C/cm^{2}$, coercive field of 9.63 kV/cm, electromechanical coupling factor of radial mode of 55.1%, mechanical quality factor of 886. Temperature and frequency dependence of dielectric constant and dielectric loss of the sintered sample at $1270^{\circ}C$ was also investigated.

• Composites Research
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.11-17
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• 2002

The piezoelectric thin film sensor can be used to interpret variations in structural and material properties, e.g. for structural integrity monitoring and assessment. To illustrate one of this potential benefit, PVDF (polyvinylidene fluoride) film sensors are used for monitoring impact damage in Gr/Ep composite panels. Both PVDF film sensors and strain gages are attached to the surface of Gr/Ep specimens. A series of impact tests at various impact energy by changing impact mass the height are performed on the instrumented drop weight impact tester. The sensor responses are carefully examined to predict the onset of impact damage such as indentation, matrix cracking, and delamination, etc. Test results show that the particular waveforms of sensor signals implying the damage initiation and development are detected above the damage initiation impact energy. As expected, the PVDF film sensor is found to be more sensitive to impact damage initiation event than the strain gage.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 1999

A study has been made on the fabrication of a dual mode(a longitudinal and shear mode) ultrasonic sensor using a single PZT piezoelectric ceramic element. We investigated the mechanism of the dual mode sensor that generated both of the longitudinal and the shear waves simultaneously with the single PZT element. Through the analysis of analytic wave propagation equations, all the possible crystal cuts have been examined to determine appropriate Euler transformation angles for efficient excitations of the dual modes. We studied the performance of a PZT element as a function of its rotation angle so that its efficiency is optimized to excite the two waves of equal strength. Experimental examination of the waveform on a delay line(STS303) setup confirms that the ultrasonic sensor can transmit and detect both longitudinal and shear waves simultaneously.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2004.04a
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• pp.135-138
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• 2004

Conventional piezoelectric lead-zirconate-titanate (PZT) senor has high sensitivity, but it is very brittle. Recently polymer films such as polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and poly(vinylidene fluoride­trifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-TrFE)) copolymer have been used as a sensor. The advantages of polymer sensor are the flexibility and mechanical toughness. Simple process and possible several shapes are also additional advantages. Polymer sensor can be directly embedded in a structure. In this study, nondestructive damage sensitivity of single basalt fiber/epoxy composites was investigated with sensor type and thermal damage using AE and oscilloscope. And AE waveform for epoxy matrix with various damage types was compared to each other. The damage sensitivity of two polymer sensors was rather lower than that of PZT sensor. The damage sensitivity of PVDF sensor did not decrease until thermal damage temperature at $80^{\circ}C$ and they decreased significantly at $110^{\circ}C$ However, the damage sensitivity of P(VDF-TrFE) sensor at $110^{\circ}C$ was almost same in no damage sensor. For both top and side impacts, the difference in arrival time increased with increasing internal and surface damage density of epoxy matrix.

• Earthquakes and Structures
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.485-509
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• 2015

This paper presents the experimental results obtained by applying frequency-domain structural health monitoring techniques to assess the damage suffered on a special type of damper called Web Plastifying Damper (WPD). The WPD is a hysteretic type energy dissipator recently developed for the passive control of structures subjected to earthquakes. It consists of several I-section steel segments connected in parallel. The energy is dissipated through plastic deformations of the web of the I-sections, which constitute the dissipative parts of the damper. WPDs were subjected to successive histories of dynamically-imposed cyclic deformations of increasing magnitude with the shaking table of the University of Granada. To assess the damage to the web of the I-section steel segments after each history of loading, a new damage index called Area Index of Damage (AID) was obtained from simple vibration tests. The vibration signals were acquired by means of piezoelectric sensors attached on the I-sections, and non-parametric statistical methods were applied to calculate AID in terms of changes in frequency response functions. The damage index AID was correlated with another energy-based damage index -ID- which past research has proven to accurately characterize the level of mechanical damage. The ID is rooted in the decomposition of the load-displacement curve experienced by the damper into the so-called skeleton and Bauschinger parts. ID predicts the level of damage and the proximity to failure of the damper accurately, but it requires costly instrumentation. The experiments reported in this paper demonstrate a good correlation between AID and ID in a realistic seismic loading scenario consisting of dynamically applied arbitrary cyclic loads. Based on this correlation, it is possible to estimate ID indirectly from the AID, which calls for much simpler and less expensive instrumentation.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.135-150
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• 2015

Large concrete structures are prone to cracks and damages over time from human usage, weathers, and other environmental attacks such as flood, earthquakes, and hurricanes. The health of the concrete structures should be monitored regularly to ensure safety. A reliable method of real time communications can facilitate more frequent structural health monitoring (SHM) updates from hard to reach positions, enabling crack detections of embedded concrete structures as they occur to avoid catastrophic failures. By implementing an unconventional mode of communication that utilizes guided stress waves traveling along the concrete structure itself, we may be able to free structural health monitoring from costly (re-)installation of communication wires. In stress-wave communications, piezoelectric transducers can act as actuators and sensors to send and receive modulated signals carrying concrete status information. The new generation of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) based smart aggregates cause multipath propagation in the homogeneous concrete channel, which presents both an opportunity and a challenge for multiple sensors communication. We propose a time reversal based pulse position modulation (TR-PPM) communication for stress wave communication within the concrete structure to combat multipath channel dispersion. Experimental results demonstrate successful transmission and recovery of TR-PPM using stress waves. Compared with PPM, we can achieve higher data rate and longer link distance via TR-PPM. Furthermore, TR-PPM remains effective under low signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio. This work also lays the foundation for implementing multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) stress wave communication networks in concrete channels.

• Journal of the Korea Institute of Information and Communication Engineering
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• v.26 no.9
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• pp.1347-1356
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• 2022

In this paper, we investigate the properties of CoGe thin film-based galvanic cells as a function of their dimension (cell length, width, etc.) and show their application as sensors to Arduino-based IoT sensor networks to detect water contact. Because these CoGe thin film-based galvanic cells do not require mechanical strains or temperature gradients unlike piezoelectric and thermoelectric energy harvesters, we think that these thin film-based galvanic cells are more suitable for self-powered sensor networks demanding sustainable and robust energy harvesters. In the past, a sputter-deposited CoGe thin film has not been intensively investigated for energy harvesting appilcations. Thus, in this study, we perform a feasibility study of galvanic cells composed of a sputter-deposited CoGe thin film to see if they can be applied as potential self-powered sensors. We believe that this paper will be of great help in developing even more enhanced sensor networks.

• Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.76-84
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• 2006

Arrayed ultrasonic sensors based on the piezoelectric thin film (lead-zirconate-titanate: Pb($Zr_{0.52}Ti_{0.48})O_{3}$) having composite membrane structure are fabricated. Different thermal and elastic characteristics of each layer generate the residual stress during the high temperature deposition processes, accomplished diaphragm is consequently bowing. We present the membrane deflection effects originated from the residual stress on the resonant frequencies of the sensor chips. The resonant frequencies ($f_r$) measured of each sensor structures are located in the range of $87.6{\sim}111\;kHz$, these are larger $30{\sim}40\;kHz$ than the resultant frequencies of FEM. The primary factors of $f_r$ deviations from the ideal FEM results are the membrane deflections, and the influence of stiffness variations are not so large on that. Membrane deflections have the effect of total thickness increase which sensitively change the $f_r$ to the positive direction. Stress generations of the membrane are also numerically predicted for considering the effect of stiffness variations on the $f_r$.