Characterization of Electro-Active Paper Vibration Sensor by Impact Testing and Random Excitation

We characterized a vibration sensor made of piezoelectric paper by measuring the frequency response function of an aluminum cantilever that was subjected to impulse loading and random excitation. The dynamic characteristics of the device were measured by recording the transient response of the smart cantilever beam with a pair of electro-active paper (EAPap) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) sensors located at a 5 mm distance from the clamped end as well as from a second pair of piezoelectric sensors located at a distance of 140 mm. The responses were measured by impacting the cantilever at its tip and at its mid-point. A fast Fourier transform was applied on the time domain data to measure the resonant frequencies of the vibrating structure. Both the EAPap and the PVDF sensors were observed to be very sensitive to varying levels of dynamic strain. The EAPap sensor showed a low strain sensitivity that was found to be desirable due to the inherent piezoelectricity and eco-friendly behavior of the material. The results revealed that the dynamic sensing ability of the EAPap at a low frequency range was quite comparable to that of PVDF when monitoring structural vibrations. The frequency response function was also measured via random excitation, piezoelectricity of the EAPap sensor shows potential for sensing vibrations with a dynamic response.