Pressure sensing by electro-mechanical coupling in compliant dielectric membranes polarized by a bias voltage

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Main Authors: Van Damme, Bart, d'Arre, Alexandre Brun, Danner, Patrick, Opris, Dorina, Bergamini, Andrea
Format: Preprint
Published: 2026
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author Van Damme, Bart
d'Arre, Alexandre Brun
Danner, Patrick
Opris, Dorina
Bergamini, Andrea
author_facet Van Damme, Bart
d'Arre, Alexandre Brun
Danner, Patrick
Opris, Dorina
Bergamini, Andrea
contents Among smart materials, piezoelectric materials occupy a very prominent position for sensing and actuation functions. Combined with simple or more advanced shunts, they are also proposed in various vibration mitigation schemes. However, the selection of available piezoelectric materials is mainly limited to ceramics (with an elastic modulus in the order of 10 Gpa (e.g. PZT ceramics) and a few polymer materials, with elastic modulus in the range of 1 Gpa (e.g. PVDF). In both cases, the high mechanical impedance and, consequently, the small dynamic strains limit the application of these materials to stiff structures. In this contribution, we discuss using a bias voltage to polarize dielectric materials and thereby compensate for the lack of spontaneous polarization observed in piezoelectrics. This enables access to materials with a wider range of elastic properties, such as soft elastomers, e.g. poly(dimethylsiloxane). As an example, we present a practical implementation of a silicone rubber membrane used as a highly compliant dynamic pressure sensor. For such nearly-incompressible materials, the capacitance change during dynamic deformation of the membranes is sufficiently large to generate a measurable dynamic voltage change over the membrane.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2604_24140
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Pressure sensing by electro-mechanical coupling in compliant dielectric membranes polarized by a bias voltage
Van Damme, Bart
d'Arre, Alexandre Brun
Danner, Patrick
Opris, Dorina
Bergamini, Andrea
Applied Physics
Among smart materials, piezoelectric materials occupy a very prominent position for sensing and actuation functions. Combined with simple or more advanced shunts, they are also proposed in various vibration mitigation schemes. However, the selection of available piezoelectric materials is mainly limited to ceramics (with an elastic modulus in the order of 10 Gpa (e.g. PZT ceramics) and a few polymer materials, with elastic modulus in the range of 1 Gpa (e.g. PVDF). In both cases, the high mechanical impedance and, consequently, the small dynamic strains limit the application of these materials to stiff structures. In this contribution, we discuss using a bias voltage to polarize dielectric materials and thereby compensate for the lack of spontaneous polarization observed in piezoelectrics. This enables access to materials with a wider range of elastic properties, such as soft elastomers, e.g. poly(dimethylsiloxane). As an example, we present a practical implementation of a silicone rubber membrane used as a highly compliant dynamic pressure sensor. For such nearly-incompressible materials, the capacitance change during dynamic deformation of the membranes is sufficiently large to generate a measurable dynamic voltage change over the membrane.
title Pressure sensing by electro-mechanical coupling in compliant dielectric membranes polarized by a bias voltage
topic Applied Physics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.24140