Date of Award

2019

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science in Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design

Specialization

Textile Science

Department

Textiles, Fashion Merchandising and Design

First Advisor

Martin Bide

Abstract

Porosity variations in a non-textile dielectric layer are known to impact sensor output in a capacitive pressure sensor. There are many benefits to using completely textile-based sensors for wearable technology, such as comfort, washability, cost, and ease of integration. Therefore, this study intended to establish if differences in structural parameters and air permeability of a textile-based dielectric layer could influence sensor output as well. The thickness of various polyester, nylon, and acrylic fabrics was determined via ASTM D1777-96 (2015): Standard Test Method for Thickness of Textile Materials. Several fabrics of similar thickness within each fiber group were selected to be conditioned in accordance with ASTM D1776: Standard Practice for Conditioning and Testing Textiles before being tested for air permeability under the guidelines from ASTM D737-18: Standard Test Method for Air Permeability of Textile Fabrics.

The chosen fabrics were cut to 108x108mm. These textile samples were sandwiched between two 2x102x102mm stainless steel plates and attached to an LCR meter. Weight was applied to these sensors in 500g increments up to 4000g and then removed in 500g increments back to 0g. Six trials were conducted for each fabric. Hysteresis error, sensitivity, linearity error, and repeatability were calculated from the data. The results showed that structural variations did cause distinct differences in sensor output. However, there was not enough control in the structural variations to determine specific trends. Further testing with more controlled structural variations would also be necessary to determine the impact of air permeability.

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