Conventional sensors, such as proximeters and accelerometers, are add-on devices usually adding additional weights to structures and machines. Health monitoring of flexible structures by electroactive smart materials has been investigated over the years. Thin-film piezoelectric material, e.g. polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymeric material, is a lightweight and dynamic sensitive material appe...

using piezoelectric patches the stress concentration around a hole on a plate under tension is reduced and controlled. to attain the reduction in stress two placements for piezoelectric patches is investigated. the first location is top/bottom of the hole with compression induced strain and the second is left/right of the hole with tension induced strains to control the stress flow. the result ...

0167-9317/$ see front matter 2011 Elsevier B.V. A doi:10.1016/j.mee.2011.02.080 ⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +39 0 832 295726; fa E-mail addresses: [email protected], simopetro In this work the micro-fabrication of flexible MicroElectroMechanical transducers based on the piezoelectric effect is reported. We developed the technological protocol to realize a piezoelectric transducer composed...

the output of a piezoelectric nanogenerator based on zno nanowire is largely affected by the shape of nanowire. in order to obtain mechanically stable nanogenerator with high performance, the investigation of mechanical and electrical characteristics related to the nanowires and materials used in nanogenerators are of great interest and significance. this paper presents the various behavior of ...

We present a viscometric affinity biosensor that can potentially allow continuous multi-analyte monitoring in biological fluids like blood or plasma. The sensing principle is based on the detection of viscosity changes of a polymeric solution which has a selective affinity for the analyte of interest. The chemicomechanical sensor incorporates an actuating piezoelectric diaphragm, a sensing piez...

Light is a readily available and sustainable energy source. Transduction of light into mechanical work or electricity in functional materials, composites, or systems has other potential advantages derived from the ability to remotely, spatially, and temporally control triggering by light. Toward this end, this work examines photoinduced piezoelectric (photopiezoelectric) effects in laminate com...

Piezoelectric nanogenerators (PNGs) are capable of converting energy from various mechanical sources into electric energy and have many attractive features such as continuous operation, replenishment and low cost. However, many researchers still have studied novel material synthesis and interfacial controls to improve the power production from PNGs. In this study, we report the energy conversio...

Photoacoustic microscopy (PAM) does not rely on contrast agent to image the optical absorption contrast in biological tissue. It is uniquely suited for measuring several tissue physiological parameters, such as hemoglobin oxygen saturation, that would otherwise remain challenging. Researchers are designing new clinical diagnostic tools and multimodal microscopic systems around PAM to fully unle...

Elec:troactive thin-film polymers a.re increa.sinp;ly beinp; used as sensors and actuators in aerospace structures [1,2]. They also have sip;nificant potential for applications in musc:le mechanisms and micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS). In these applications, polymer films of thickness varyinp; between 20 and :100 tLin are utilized. Actuation of these polymers is attributed to piezoelect...