• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.6 no.7
• /
• pp.835-849
• /
• 2010

This study investigated propagation characteristics of piezo-activated guided waves in an aluminium rectangular-section tube for the purpose of damage identification. Changes in propagating velocity and amplitude of the first wave packet in acquired signals were observed in the frequency range from 50 to 250 kHz. The difference in guided wave propagation between rectangular- and circular-section tubes was examined using finite element simulation, demonstrating a great challenge in interpretation of guided wave signals in rectangular-section tubes. An active sensor network, consisting of nine PZT elements bonded on different surfaces of the tube, was configured to collect the wave signals scattered from through-thickness holes of different diameters. It was found that guided waves were capable of propagating across the sharp tube curvatures while retaining sensitivity to damage, even that not located on the surfaces where actuators/sensors were attached. Signal correlation between the intact and damaged structures was evaluated with the assistance of a concept of digital damage fingerprints (DDFs). The probability of the presence of damage on the unfolded tube surface was thus obtained, by which means the position of damage was identified with good accuracy.

• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.28 no.5
• /
• pp.361-366
• /
• 2004

The poling characteristics of PVDF (poly(vinylidene fluoride)) film was investigated by measuring the electric voltage generated by the external load for the distributed tactile sensor applications. The poling conditions for the PVDF films were controlled by changing temperature and electric field, and the resulting crystal structure of the $\beta$-phase crystal was confirmed by FT-IR, DSC, and XRD experiments. The $\beta$-phase crystal was increased with the poling temperature and poling voltage, and subsequently the permittivity of the Poled PVDF films was increased. Finally, the prototype tactile sensor was tested by a 8 $\times$ 8 may circuit exhibiting high voltage signal for the highly poled PVDF films.

• Smart Structures and Systems
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.135-150
• /
• 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 Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.54-62
• /
• 2013

In this study, a wireless and non-power SAW (surface acoustic wave) temperature sensor was developed. The single inter-digital transducer (IDT) of SAW temperature sensor of which resonance frequency is 434 MHz was fabricated on $128^{\circ}$ rot-X $LiNbO_3$ piezoelectric substrate by semiconductor processing technology. To find optimal acoustic reflector for SAW temperature sensor, various kinds of acoustic reflectors were fabricated and their reflection characteristics were analyzed. The IDT type acoustic reflector showed better reflection characteristic than other reflectors. The wireless temperature sensing system consisting of SAW temperature sensor with dipole antenna and a microprocessor based control circuit with dipole antenna for transmitting signal to activate the SAW temperature sensor and receiving the signal from SAW temperature sensor was developed. The result with wireless SAW temperature sensing system showed that the frequency of SAW temperature sensor was linearly decreased with the increase of temperature in the range of 40 to $80^{\circ}C$ and the developed wireless SAW temperature sensing system showed the excellent performance with the coefficient of determination of 0.99.

• Journal of the Microelectronics and Packaging Society
• /
• v.16 no.1
• /
• pp.13-19
• /
• 2009

A 440MHz wireless and passive surface acoustic wave (SAW) based chemical sensor was developed on a $41^{\circ}YX\;LiNbO_3$ piezoelectric substrate for simultaneous measurement of $CO_2$ gas and relative humidity (RH) using a reflective delay line pattern as the sensor element. The reflective delay line is composed of an interdigital transducer (IDT) and several shorted grating reflectors. A Teflon AF 2400 and a hydrophilic $SiO_2$ layer were used as $CO_2$ and water vapor sensitive films. The coupling of mode (COM) modeling was conducted to determine optimal device parameters prior to fabrication. According to simulation results, the device was fabricated and then wirelessly measured using the network analyzer. The measured reflective coefficient $S_{11}$ in the time domain showed high signal/noise (S/N) ratio, small signal attenuation, and few spurious peaks. In the $CO_2$ and humidity testing, high sensitivity ($2^{\circ}/ppm$ for $CO_2$ detection and $7.45^{\circ}/%$RH for humidity sensing), good linearity and repeatability were observed in the $CO_2$ concentration ranges of $75{\sim}375ppm$ and humidity levels of $20{\sim}80%$RH. Temperature and humidity compensations were also investigated during the sensitivity evaluation process.

• Science of Emotion and Sensibility
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.65-74
• /
• 2021

With recent innovations in the ICT industry, the demand for wearable sensing devices to recognize and respond to biological signals has increased. In this study, a three-dimensional (3D) spacer fabric was embedded in a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWCNT) dispersive solution through a simple penetration process to develop a monolayer piezoresistive pressure sensor. To induce electrical conductivity in the 3D spacer fabric, samples were immersed in the SWCNT dispersive solution and dried. To determine the electrical properties of the impregnated specimen, a universal testing machine and multimeter were used to measure the resistance of the pressure change. Moreover, to examine the changes in the electrical properties of the sensor, its performance was evaluated by varying the concentration, number of penetrations, and thickness of the specimen. Samples that penetrated twice in the SWCNT distributed solution of 0.1 wt% showed the best performance as sensors. The 7-mm thick sensors showed the highest GF, and the 13-mm thick sensors showed the widest operating range. This study confirms the effectiveness of the simple process of fabricating smart textile sensors comprising 3D spacer fabrics and the excellent performance of the sensors.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Fisheries and Ocean Technology
• /
• v.34 no.1
• /
• pp.85-95
• /
• 1998

The broadband ultrasonic transducers have been designed to use in obtaining the broadband echo signals from fish schools in relation to the identification of fish species. The broadening of bandwidth was achieved by attaching double acoustic matching layers on the front face of a Tonpilz transducer consisted of an aluminum head, a piezoelectric ring, a brass tail and to evaluate the performance characteristics, such as the transmitting voltage response(TVR) of transducers. The constructed transducers were tested experimentally and numerically by changing the parameters such as impedances and thicknesses of the head, tail and matching layers, in the water tank. Also, the developed transducer was excited by a chirp signal and the received chirp waveforms were analyzed. According to the measured TVR results, the available 3 dB bandwidth of the transducer with double matching layers of an $Al_O_3/epoxy$ composite of 7 mm thick and a polyurethane window of 18 mm thick was 7.3 kHz with a center frequency of 38.8 kHz, and the maximum and the minimum values of the TVR in this frequency region were 135.7 dB and 132.7 dB re $1\;{\mu}Pa/V$ at 1 m, respectively. Also, the available 3 dB bandwidth of the transducer with double matching layers of an $Al_O_3/epoxy$ composite of 11 mm thick and a polyurethane window of 15 mm thick was 6.2 kHz with a center frequency of 38.6 kHz, and the maximum TVR value in the frequency region was 136.3 dB re $1\;{\mu}Pa/V$ at 1 m. Reasonable agreement between the experimental results and the numerical results for the TVR of the developed transducers was achieved. The frequency dependant characteristics of experimentally observed chirp signals closely matched to the measured TVR results. These results suggest that there is potential for increasing the bandwidth by varying other parameters in the transducer design and the material of the acoustic matching layers.

• Geophysics and Geophysical Exploration
• /
• v.8 no.3
• /
• pp.224-231
• /
• 2005

In geophysical field surveys, commercial equipments often fail to resolve the subsurface target or even sometimes fail to be applied because they do not fit to the various field situations or the physical properties of the medium or target. We developed a geophysical measurement system, which can be easily adapted for the various field situations and targets. The system based on PXI with A/D converter and some stand alone equipment such as Network Analyzer was applied to borehole radar survey, borehole sonic measurement and electromagnetic noise measurement. The system for borehole radar survey consists of PXI, Network Analyzer, dipole antennas, GPIB interface is used for PXI to control Network Analyzer. The system for borehole sonic measurement consists of PXI, 24 Bit A/D converter, high voltage pulse generator, transmitting and receiving piezoelectric sensors. The electromagnetic noise measurement system consists of PXI, 24 Bit A/D converter, 2 horizontal component electric field sensors and 2 horizontal and 1 vertical component magnetic filed sensors. The borehole radar system has been successfully applied to detect the width of the artificial tunnel through which the borehole pass and to image buried steel pipe, while the commercial borehole radar equipment failed. The borehole sonic system was tested to detect the width of artificial tunnel and showed a reasonable result. The characteristic of electromagnetic noise was grasped at an urban area with the data from the electromagnetic noise measurement system. The system is also applied to characterize the signal distortion by induction between the electric cables in resistivity survey. The system can be applied various geophysical problems with a simple modification of the system and sensors.