Tailoring Thin-Film Piezoelectrics for Crash Sensing

Joshi, Sudeep and Nayak, M M and Rajanna, K (2018) Tailoring Thin-Film Piezoelectrics for Crash Sensing. In: SMALL, 14 (29).

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Abstract

Crash sensing and its assessment play a pivotal role in autonomous vehicles for preventing fatal casualties. Existing crash sensors are severely bottlenecked by sluggish response time, rigid mechanical components, and space constraints. Miniaturized sensors embedded with custom-tailored nanomaterials upholds potential to overcome these limitations. In this article, piezoelectric Zinc-Oxide thin film as a crash sensing layer is integrated onto a flexible metal-alloy cantilever. Material characterization studies are conducted to confirm piezoelectric property of sputtered ZnO film. The piezoelectric d(31) coefficient value of ZnO film was 7.2 pm V-1. The ZnO sensing element is firmly mounted on a scaled car model and used in a crash sensing experimental set-up. A comprehensive theoretical analysis for two different real scenarios (nearly elastic and nearly inelastic collision) of crash events followed by experimental study is discussed. The crash sensor's output exhibits a linear relationship with magnitude of impact forces experienced at crash events. The response time of ZnO crash sensor is 18.2 ms, and it exhibits a sensitivity of 28.7 mV N-1. The developed crash sensor has potential to replace bulk material sensors owing to its faster response time, high sensitivity, and compactness as the demand for crash sensors in next-generation automobile industries is progressively growing.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	SMALL
Publisher:	WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH, POSTFACH 101161, 69451 WEINHEIM, GERMANY
Additional Information:	Copyright of this article belong to WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH, POSTFACH 101161, 69451 WEINHEIM, GERMANY
Department/Centre:	Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences > Centre for Nano Science and Engineering Division of Physical & Mathematical Sciences > Instrumentation Appiled Physics
Date Deposited:	09 Aug 2018 15:40
Last Modified:	25 Aug 2022 11:29
URI:	https://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/60381

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