Fiber-based Piezoelectric Sensors in Woven Structure

In this study, we investigated the characteristics of piezoelectric sensors woven with a flexible fiber-based substrate. Eight polyvinylidene fluoride film-based piezoelectric sensors were placed in parallel on a flexible fabric, passing above and below the intersection of the yarns. To study the electrical properties of the sensors, sinusoidal flexural loadings with different bending angles and operating frequencies were applied to the fabric substrate. The experimental results indicated that different flexural loadings can be differentiated by analyzing the output voltages from the sensors. Also, the results confirmed that the output voltage remains constant with varying operating frequencies at a fixed bending angle. Also, the voltage amplitudes of the sensors were proportional to the bending angle.