Implementation of advanced fiber optic and piezoelectric sensors : fabrication and laboratory testing of piezoelectric ceramic-polymer composite sensors for weigh-in-motion systems.

Details

• Creators:
  Szary, P. J. ; Maher, A. ; Panda, R. K. ; Safari, A.
• Corporate Contributors:
  Rutgers University ; New Jersey Department of Transportation ; United States. Federal Highway Administration. New Jersey Division
• Subject/TRT Terms:
  • Piezoelectric transducers
  • Sensors
  • Weigh in motion
  • Composite materials
  • Ceramic composites
  • Fiber optic sensors
  • Laboratory tests
  • Measurement
  • Piezoelectric sensors
  • Polymers
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• Publication/ Report Number:
  FHWA 1999-029
• Resource Type:
  Tech Report
• Geographical Coverage:
  New Jersey
• Edition:
  Final report; Oct. 1996-Sept. 1998.
• Corporate Publisher:
  New Jersey. Dept. of Transportation
• Abstract:
  Weigh-in-motion (WIM) systems might soon replace the conventional techniques used to enforce ; weight restrictions for large vehicles on highways. Currently WIM systems use a piezoelectric ; polymer sensor that produces a voltage proportional to an applied pressure or load. Using this ; phenomenon, these systems are already being tested for collecting traffic data, including weigh-inmotion, ; measuring vehicle speeds, classifying vehicles by category and counting axles etc. The ; polymer sensors are usually in the form of a long tape or cable embedded within a long block of ; elastomeric material. These blocks are installed into grooves, which are cut into roads perpendicular ; to the traffic flow. The biggest disadvantage of the present sensor technology is that the piezoelectric ; output is not uniform with temperature and time, thus leading to large uncertainty in the data ; collected. On the other hand, piezoelectric ceramic materials have a much more stable response ; over a large temperature range. However, they are not used for traffic data sensors because of their ; inherent brittleness. Piezoelectric ceramic/polymer composites are made with an active piezoelectric ; ceramic embedded in a flexible non-active epoxy polymer. They hold a lot of promise for WIM ; applications because of their flexibility and excellent piezoelectric properties similar to that observed ; in bulk ceramics. In this research project, ceramic/polymer composite strips have been fabricated for ; use as piezoelectric sensors for measuring large loads. After encapsulating the polymer and ; composite sensors in elastomeric blocks in aluminum channels, the voltage outputs for different ; loads, loading rates and temperature conditions have been determined. Also, the composite and ; polymer sensor assemblies are being installed on a test road in order to perform actual ; measurements.
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• Format:
  PDF
• Download URL:
  https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/15465/dot_15465_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.67 MB]
• Collection(s):
  University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:abff6b6a98321dad6252c49ee131edca7b5b576730a68131659caf887b1f60d5