PSI - Issue 80

Available online at www.sciencedirect.com Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2022) 000–000 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect Structural Integrity Procedia 00 (2022) 000–000 Available online at www.sciencedirect.com ScienceDirect

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ScienceDirect

Procedia Structural Integrity 80 (2026) 65–76

© 2025 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Ferri Aliabadi © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Professor Ferri Aliabadi Abstract Printed electronics offer a flexible and scalable alternative to conventional strain gauges for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. This paper presents the preliminary development and evaluation of printed strain gauges. Conductive silver inks were printed to fabricate resistive strain sensors on flexible substrates using a materials dispensing printer (Voltera). The study focuses on optimizing printed sensors fabrication, assessing its electrical and monitoring performances, and comparing with commercially available strain gauges. Both printed strain gauges and commercial strain gauges were attached on opposite sides onto metal and composite plates for fatigue testing. Despite low unstrained resistances of about 10 Ω, the resistance changes under strain for the printed strain gauges were comparable to that of commercial strain gauges (350 Ω). Under 1000 cycles of tensile loading, the changes in resistance were consistent. Therefore, results demonstrate promising sensitivity, repeatability, and fatigue resistance. © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Professor Ferri Aliabadi Fracture, Damage and Structural Health Monitoring Preliminary Development of Flexible Printed Strain Gauges for Structural Health Monitoring Marilyne Philibert*, Yuhang Pan, Zahra Sharif Khodaei and Ferri M.H. Aliabadi Department of Aeronatics, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, City and Guilds Building, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK Abstract Printed electronics offer a flexible and scalable alternative to conventional strain gauges for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. This paper presents the preliminary development and evaluation of printed strain gauges. Conductive silver inks were printed to fabricate resistive strain sensors on flexible substrates using a materials dispensing printer (Voltera). The study focuses on optimizing printed sensors fabrication, assessing its electrical and monitoring performances, and comparing with commercially available strain gauges. Both printed strain gauges and commercial strain gauges were attached on opposite sides onto metal and composite plates for fatigue testing. Despite low unstrained resistances of about 10 Ω, the resistance changes under strain for the printed strain gauges were comparable to that of commercial strain gauges (350 Ω). Under 1000 cycles of tensile loading, the changes in resistance were consistent. Therefore, results demonstrate promising sensitivity, repeatability, and fatigue resistance. Fracture, Damage and Structural Health Monitoring Preliminary Development of Flexible Printed Strain Gauges for Structural Health Monitoring Marilyne Philibert*, Yuhang Pan, Zahra Sharif Khodaei and Ferri M.H. Aliabadi Department of Aeronatics, Imperial College London, South Kensington Campus, City and Guilds Building, Exhibition Road, SW7 2AZ, London, UK

Keywords: Printed electronic; Strain Gauge; Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) Keywords: Printed electronic; Strain Gauge; Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)

1. Introduction Traditional inspection methods, such as non-destructive testing (NDT), are often time-consuming, costly, and require aircraft downtime. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems, by contrast, offer the possibility for 1. Introduction Traditional inspection methods, such as non-destructive testing (NDT), are often time-consuming, costly, and require aircraft downtime. Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) systems, by contrast, offer the possibility for

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: m.philibert@imperial.ac.uk * Corresponding author. E-mail address: m.philibert@imperial.ac.uk

2452-3216 © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Professor Ferri Aliabadi 2452-3216 © 2023 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Professor Ferri Aliabadi

2452-3216 © 2025 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0) Peer-review under responsibility of Ferri Aliabadi 10.1016/j.prostr.2026.02.007