Simple Pressure Sensor with Highly Customizable Sensitivity Based on Fiber Bragg Grating and Pill-Shaped 3D-Printed Structure

Abstract

This study presents a simple pill-shaped pressure sensor fabricated by fused deposition modelling (FDM) technology. A fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensor was embedded inside the structure during the 3D printing process. The dimension of the sensor was simulated by the finite element method to explore the customizability of the pressure sensor. The proposed pill-shaped pressure sensor showed great linearity and achieved high sensitivity with a total Bragg-shifted wavelength of 1.44 nm in the pressure range between 0 and 0.35 MPa, corresponding to a pressure sensitivity of 4.11 nm/MPa. The measured pressure change matched closely with finite element simulation, and the sensitivity could easily increase five times by a thirty percent increase in structure size. The results showed that the pill-shaped pressure sensor had high linearity and great feasibility and could be easily customized to a wide pressure range for static and dynamic pressure measurements in industrial applications.