Double-spring-piece structured triboelectric sensor for broadband vibration monitoring and warning

Abstract For modern alarm detection technologies, the vibration sensor is one of the most widely applied sensing technologies. It is of great significance for developing the sensing field to achieve the broadband monitoring of mechanical vibration by using triboelectric sensors (TES). In this work, a novel double-spring-piece structured triboelectric sensor (DS-TES) is proposed for broadband vibration monitoring and warning. The sensor adopts double three-rib longitudinal spring pieces to form an internal spring-mass-damping system, which has high stability. The physical model of the electric field system is established and analyzed by combining the dynamic model. The experimental results show that the DS-TES can achieve vibration frequency measurement in the range of 0–200 Hz with high linearity, and the error rate is less than 0.015%. The signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of most output signals can be maintained at approximately 40 dB after signal processing. Moreover, the SNR of DS-TES can be maintained above 18 dB within the range of 70° tilt angle. Finally, the applications of DS-TES in broadband vibration real-time monitoring and grading warning are demonstrated. The present results indicate that the DS-TES holds promising potentials in acting as a warning of natural disasters or structural health monitoring systems.