A Novel Approach to a Piezoelectric Sensing Element

Piezoelectric materials have commonly been used in pressure and stress sensors; however, many designs consist of thin plate structures that produce small voltage signals when they are compressed or extended under a pressure field. This study used finite element methods to design a novel piezoelectric pressure sensor with a C-shaped piezoelectric element and determine if the voltage signal obtained during hydrostatic pressure application was enhanced compared to a standard thin plate piezoelectric element. The results of this study demonstrated how small deformations of this C-shaped sensor produced a large electrical signal output. It was also shown that the location of the electrodes for this sensor needs to be carefully chosen and that the electric potential distribution varies depending on the poling of the piezoelectric element. This study indicated that the utilization of piezoelectric materials of different shapes and geometries embedded in a polymer matrix for sensing applications has several advantages over thin plate solid piezoelectric structures.