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Updated: Nov 3, 2025

Production of a Strain-Measuring Device with an Improved 3D Printer
Published on: January 30, 2020
3D-Printed Load Cell Using Nanocarbon Composite Strain Sensor
Kwan-Young Joung1,2, Sung-Yong Kim3, Inpil Kang3
1Department of Electronic Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul 04763, Korea.
Abstract:
The development of a 3D-Printed Load Cell (PLC) was studied using a nanocarbon composite strain sensor (NCSS) and a 3D printing process. The miniature load cell was fabricated using a low-cost LCD-based 3D printer with UV resin. The NCSS composed of 0.5 wt% MWCNT/epoxy was used to create the flexure of PLC. PLC performance was evaluated under a rated load range; its output was equal to the common value of 2 mV/V. The performance was also evaluated after a calibration in terms of non-linearity, repeatability, and hysteresis, with final results of 2.12%, 1.60%, and 4.42%, respectively. Creep and creep recovery were found to be 1.68 (%FS) and 4.16 (%FS). The relative inferiorities of PLC seem to originate from the inherent hyper-elastic characteristics of polymer sensors. The 3D PLC developed may be a promising solution for the OEM/design-in load cell market and may also result in the development of a novel 3D-printed sensor.
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