PVDF Film – Learning About Piezo Sensors
22-Mar-08
Finalizing the piezo application for the the A.D. White House installation, “Echo”, I’m running into some useful tidbits of knowledge about piezo applications. If you need a good intro to piezo sensor applications, be sure to check out
– http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~st96p2ha/piezo.html –
The “Piezo Lab” page provides some good background info on piezos and even has procedures for a lab you can try yourself
PVDF Film, or piezo film, has interesting characteristics which make it highly useful as a transducer. The film is highly sensitive to infrared energy, making it a great sensor for quick changes in temperature. When deformed it emits a high voltage spike which can be easily measured by an oscilloscope. Additionally, the voltage output is anagalous to the frequency and degree of deformation, making the material good for detecting high-pitched sound. This leads to a wide variety of industrial applications such as a strain gauge.