Highly reproducible printable graphite strain gauges for flexible devices

A growing area for the electronics industry is the development of flexible components for novel devices. Controlling the flexibility of such devices requires the precise and reliable measurement of strains in a manner compatible with the form and function of the device. In this article, we demonstrate the fabrication and characterization of printed strain gauges with a gauge factor as high as 19.3 +/- 1.4, fast signal response and high reproducibility. The device is made of graphite ink deposited by screen printing on a plastic substrate. The flexible printed sensor is capable of precisely measuring repetitive tensile and compressive bending strain changes. An approach for eliminating the temperature-induced errors of strain gauges based on neutral axis engineering is also described. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.