Description:
Project ID: D2018-23
Background
Pressure sensing is used in the automobile, packaging, food, and pharmaceutical industries. Commercially available pressure-sensing films rely on a reaction created when microcapsules burst upon applied pressure. However, these films only function in a limited temperature range and do not work in wet or oily environments.
Invention Description
Researchers have developed a pressure-sensitive film that transitions from opaque to transparent with increasing pressure. The films are made of thermoplastic elastomers containing a porous microstructure. Stress-induced porosity transition can be programed to occur within a range of 0.62 MPa to 60 MPa. Upon transition these pores shrink, allowing light to be transmitted through the films without any scattering. Once the stress is removed, these pores remain small keeping the film transparent, allowing for an optical indication of pressure/stress. The pressure sensitive films can be re-activated to their initial opaque state for multiple cycles.
Applications
- Pressure measurement
- Pressure mapping
- Pressure balance
- Composite parts of thermal insulator
- Reconfigurable porous polymers/processes
Advantages
- Low cost
- Optically quantifiable
- Accurate measurements taken between 10 and 100 C
- Can be used inside water or oil.
- Re-processable multiple times
IP Status: Patent pending