Parametric Study of Geometry and Process Parameter Influences on Additively Manufactured Piezoresistive Sensors Under...

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Mechanical Engineering
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Additive manufacturing (AM) offers advantages for piezoresistive sensors, including integrated design and applicability in soft robotics.
• Sensor performance metrics like resistance and sensitivity are known to be influenced by AM process parameters.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the complex relationships between AM process parameters, material properties, sensor design, and the resulting piezoresistive sensor characteristics.
• To quantify the impact of printing parameters on nonlinearity, hysteresis, and drift in additively manufactured piezoresistive sensors.

Main Methods:

• Characterization of piezoresistive sensors fabricated using two distinct materials under cyclic tensile loading.
• Systematic variation of printing parameters including layer height, infill angle, and thickness.
• Analysis of sensor nonlinearity, hysteresis, and drift as a function of material and process parameters.

Main Results:

• Both nonlinearity and hysteresis are significantly influenced by material choice and printing parameters.
• Parameters affecting sensor sensitivity, such as infill angle, indirectly impact nonlinearity and hysteresis errors.
• Nonlinearity errors were reduced by up to 30.7% or 25.3%, and hysteresis errors by up to 38.7% or 23.8%, through optimized parameter selection.
• Drift is primarily material-dependent but also influenced by process parameters like infill angle.

Conclusions:

• Understanding the interplay between material, design, and process parameters is crucial for effective additive manufacturing of high-performance piezoresistive sensors.
• Optimized parameter selection can substantially mitigate nonlinearity and hysteresis errors, enhancing sensor reliability.
• Further research into material-process interactions will enable the tailored design of advanced additive manufactured sensors.