A novel flexible sensor for compression stress relaxation

In this paper, a novel route was developed to fabricate a new flexible force sensor using carbon composites that consist of micro carbon particles as conductive matrix, silicone rubber as insulating matrix and elastomer fillers as elastic matrix. The force sensor can not only show a gradual change in electrical resistivity with applied quasi-static pressure, but also measure the changes of compression stress relaxation in soft substrates under it. Furthermore, it is flexible and thin (1.2 mm) enough to be adhered on the measured soft substrates, so the result of relaxation can be obtained directly instead of presumption from sample testing.