Research on the relationship between the curvature and the sensitivity of curved PVDF sensor

This paper studied the effect of curvature on the charge sensitivity of a curved PVDF sensor. The sensor was fabricated by attaching a PVDF film along the X-axis on a group of cylindrical silicon rods to form an outline with several bumps. The open output voltage of a curved sensor was simulated by using ANSYS with a rod curvature of 333 m-1, 400 m-1 and 500 m-1. It was found that the sensitivity was the highest when the curvature was 500 m-1, and the lowest when the curvature was 333 m-1. Curved PVDF sensors were fabricated and tested with a PVDF patch of 30 mm long and 28 μm thick and a radius of silicon rod of 3 mm, 2.5 mm and 2 mm, respectively. A shaker and mass block were used to apply the same dynamic force to the curved sensors and an oscilloscope was used to observe the output charge. The experiment results are not ideal but do show the same tendency as the simulation. The charge sensitivity increased as the curvature of substrate increased.