Printed strain sensor with temperature compensation and its evaluation with an example of applications in structural health monitoring

In this paper, we describe the development of a flexible printed strain sensor and its evaluation with an example of its applications to structural health monitoring. The sensor was fabricated on a thin poly(ethylene naphthalate) (PEN) substrate using the screen printing method. In order to ensure compensation for temperature variations, a full-Wheatstone-bridge circuit was integrated into the sensor's structure. For this reason, the sensor's shape was specially designed in such a way that only one symmetrical structure was enough to build the full-Wheatstone-bridge. The developed device was evaluated by various laboratory tests as well as by measurements carried out on a highway bridge. The collected results demonstrate its potential suitability for application to dynamic load tests within the framework of structural health monitoring.