Contact-type vibration sensors using curved clamped PVDF film

This paper describes a new type of contact vibration sensor made by bonding a piezoelectric polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film to a curved frame structure. The concave surface of the film is bonded to a rubber piece having a front contact face. Vibration is transmitted from this face through the rubber to the surface of the PVDF film. Pressure normal to the surface of the film is converted to circumferential strain, and an electric field is induced by the piezoelectric effect. The frequency response of the device was measured using an accelerometer mounted between the rubber face and a rigid vibration exciter plate. Sensitivity (voltage per unit displacement) was deduced from the device output and measured acceleration. The sensitivity was flat from 16 Hz to 3 kHz, peaking at 6 kHz due to a structural resonance. A contact vibration sensor theory has been developed, which accounts for the effect of the radiation medium. It has been found that the imaginary part of the radiation impedance has an effect equivalent to the addition of mass to the curved PVDF film structure, which reduces the resonance frequency by about one order. Calculations predicting performance against human tissue (stethoscope or contact microphone) show results similar to data measured against the metal vibrator. This implies that an accelerometer can be used for calibrating a stethoscope or contact microphone. The observed arterial pulse waveform from the new PVDF sensor showed more low-frequency content than a conventional electronic stethoscope.