Additive Manufacturing of Polymer Nanocomposites With In-Situ Strain Sensing Capability
Additive Manufacturing of Polymer Nanocomposites With In-Situ Strain Sensing Capability
复制标题
具有原位应变传感能力的聚合物纳米复合材料的增材制造
作者：
M. Abshirini;Mohammad Charara;Yingtao Liu;M. Saha;M. Altan
介绍了原位应变传感用导电聚二甲基硅氧烷(PDMS)纳米复合材料的添加剂制备方法。使用内部改装的3D打印机，首先在薄薄的PDMS衬底上3D打印一条直线的原始PDMS。将碳纳米管均匀地喷涂在未固化的PDMS生产线的顶部。然后在碳纳米管上再涂上一层PDMS，形成一层薄的保护膜。利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)对3D打印的PDMS/CNT纳米复合材料进行了表征，验证了传感器截面的厚度、碳纳米管的分布和微观结构特征。研究了纳米复合材料在不同应变率和最大应变下的拉伸循环加载应变传感能力。传感实验表明，在循环载荷作用下，压电阻率的变化与外加载荷的变化和被测材料应变的变化具有较高的逼真度。由于PDMS的高度灵活性，3D打印传感器在复杂柔性结构的实时载荷传感和结构健康监测方面具有潜在的应用前景。
This paper presents the additive manufacturing of electrically conductive polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) nanocomposites for in-situ strain sensing applications. A straight line of pristine PDMS was first 3D printed on a thin PDMS substrate using an in-house modified 3D printer. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were uniformly sprayed on top of uncured PDMS lines. An additional layer of PDMS was then applied on top of CNTs to form a thin protective coating. The 3D printed PDMS/CNT nanocomposites were characterized using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) to validate the thickness, CNT distribution, and microstructural features of the sensor cross-section. The strain sensing capability of the nanocomposites was investigated under tensile cyclic loading at different strain rates and maximum strains. Sensing experiments indicate that under cyclic loading, the changes in piezo resistivity mimic, both, the changes in the applied load and the measured material strain with high fidelity. Due to the high flexibility of PDMS, the 3D printed sensors have potential applications in real-time load sensing and structural health monitoring of complex flexible structures.