Changes in electrical resistance of carbon-black-filled silicone rubber composite during compression

We studied the changes in the electrical resistance of carbon black filled silicone rubber composite, which is the sensitive element of the flexible force sensor, as a function of time during compression. The experimental results show that there is a sudden increase of the electrical resistance along with the sudden increase of the stress immediately after the compression. When the sample strain is kept constant, the electrical resistance and the stress both decay with tin-le. The data of the stress relaxation and the resistance relaxation both can be fitted by the linear combination of two exponential functions. Based on the shell structure theory, the experimental phenomena are explained from the view that the uniaxial pressure induces the changes in the effective conductive paths. (c) 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.