Application of 3D printed ABS based conductive carbon black composite sensor in void fraction measurement

The application range of fused deposition modeling (FDM) process has been increased by the introduction of multifunctional materials. These materials exhibit enhanced mechanical and thermal properties. In addition to that, some materials like graphene, carbon nanotubes and carbon black have the conductive properties and can be used in electronic applications. In this research work acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) based carbon black (CB) filament is used for three dimensional (3D) printing the low cost concave capacitive sensor and it is used to measure the void fraction of the two-phase flow. The capacitance values for different void fractions are measured using 3D printed sensor and compared with the copper sensor. Also, the effect of parameters such as thickness and width of sensors on capacitance values are studied, and a prediction model using regression analysis is developed and validated to find the void fraction value. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) is done to find the significant factors affecting the capacitance values obtained for different void fraction values.