Abstract
In this article, novel 3D printed sensors for temperature measurement are presented. A planar structure of the resistive element is made, utilizing paths of a conductive filament embedded in an elastic base. Both electrically conductive and flexible filaments are used simultaneously during the 3D printing procedure, to form a ready–to–use measuring device. Due to the achieved flexibility, the detectors may be used on curved and irregular surfaces, with no concern for their possible damage. The geometry and properties of the proposed resistance detectors are discussed, along with a printing procedure. Numerical models of considered sensors are characterized, and the calculated current distributions as well as equivalent resistances of the different structures are compared. Then, a nonlinear influence of temperature on the resistance is experimentally determined for the exemplary planar sensors. Based on these results, using first–order and hybrid linear–exponential approximations, the analytical formulae are derived. Additionally, the device to measure an average temperature from several measuring surfaces is considered. Since geometry of the sensor can be designed utilizing presented approach and printed by applying fused deposition modeling, the functional device can be customized to individual needs.
Highlights
One of the most common measurements in engineering practice is the temperature measurement
Since fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers and filaments based on polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or nylon are generally accessible, it is possible to fabricate a specific object at low cost and minimum complexity
It is worthwhile to note that for small widths (e.g., w < 0.075d) the analytical be acceptable, since the relative differences are less than 10%
Summary
One of the most common measurements in engineering practice is the temperature measurement. This task is mainly achievable using factory–manufactured thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors (RTDs), made of semiconductors or metals. A novel technique to synthesize temperature detectors is proposed, i.e., a 3D printing technology, which has become very popular over the past few years. Despite cost–intensive printing of metal structures, the fused deposition modeling (FDM) is currently available for commercial and non–commercial users [4]. Since FDM printers and filaments based on polylactic acid (PLA), acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) or nylon are generally accessible, it is possible to fabricate a specific object at low cost and minimum complexity. Typical PLA is a relatively rigid and brittle dielectric material; some other PLA–based filaments were recently proposed, such as conductive [5,6], flexible [7,8] and ferromagnetic [9]
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