Direct Print Technology for Fabricating Mechanical Sensors

The emergence of printed electronics as an industry has been growing and recognized in application areas such as antennas, RFID, displays, and photovoltaic cells. In addition to these highly publicized areas, it also holds considerable promise for the sensor sector. Printing can reduce the cost of high volume manufacturing and is an ideal way for fabricating sensors even with multiple layers. The process of fabricating crack detection and stain sensor structures by the nScrypt direct printing technology has been developed. Compared to traditional photo-resist and acid etching processes as well as other jetting technology, the nScrypt direct printing technology gives a solution of laying down fine sensor geometries on flat or conformal surfaces and handling materials with a wide range of viscosities. One combination of conductor ink and dielectric ink was used to demonstrate the devices. The sensors were directly printed on a specified area of the structural component and a series of tests were carried out to evaluate their performance.