Effect Factors on Measurement Precision of the Embedded Temperature Sensing Fabric

The embedded temperature sensing fabric was designed and woven according to the heat transmission model of the fabric.The temperature sensors were embedded into the multi-layered fabric that weft yarns were high-shrinkage polyester filaments.And the fabric was treated by a self-designed partial heat device,which can make the sensor be fixed in the fabric.The effects of yarn type,yarn linear density,fabric warp density,fabric structure,fabric layer numbers where the sensor is located,and the ambient temperature on the temperature measured value were investigated.The results demonstrated that when the higher thermal conductivity of yarns and lower density yarns were applied in the fabric as rawmaterials,they were favored to improve the measurement precision.Meanwhile,there were many factors that could make the measured values closer to the real value of the body,such as the plain fabric,the increased warp density of the fabric,the multiple-layer fabric where the sensor was located,the raised ambient testing temperature and the prolonged test time in the certain range.

Fabricating a smart clothing system based on strain-sensing yarn and novel stitching technology for health monitoring

Various yarn-shaped flexible strain sensors have recently been developed.However,research is lacking on additive manufacturing for smart clothing for integrating yarn sensors with commercial garments.Herein,a strain-sensing yarn is sewn into a piece of fabric through a novel stitching technique,and the influence of the stitching method and needle pitch on the sensing performance is investigated using finite element analysis(FEA).The sensing performance could be improved when the sensing yarn is self-locked in the fabric at the needle eyes,and the needle pitch was reduced to 0.5 cm,which is attributed to the enhanced stress and strain concentration.Meanwhile,the composite sensing fabric featured outstanding performance,including a low detection limit(0.1%),rapid response(280 ms),excellent durability(10000 cycles),and high stability(negligible drift and frequency independence).In addition,the remarkable wear resistance,washability,and anti-interference to ambient humidity and perspiration were obtained.Therein,the optimal stitch trace lengths of sensing yarn for detecting elbow motion,breathing,and heartbeats are discussed.Finally,a smart clothing system composed of smart clothing,data acquisition unit,and mobile APP was developed to simultaneously detect human movement and physiological signals.This work provides a reference to produce intelligent garments based on yarn sensors for health monitoring.

Photonic crystal fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer with microholes ablated by a femtosecond laser for refractive index sensing

A new structure of the photonic crystal fiber（PCF）based Mach-Zednder interferometer（MZI）is fabricated and presented.The structure has microholes ablated by a femtosecond laser.The fringe visibility can be enhanced more than 10 dB compared with the interferometer without a microhole.The interferometer is characterized by sodium chloride solutions for refractive index（RI）sensing.The RI sensitivities are greatly increased by the hole fabrication since it directly changes the cladding modes of the PCF.For the interferometer sensor with two holes,the RI sensitivity is 157.74 nm/RIU,which is 5 times than that of the sensor without a microhole.Microholes ablation with a femtosecond laser on PCF can increase the sensor＇s sensitivity dramatically.Femtosecond laser has a wide application prospect in the field of performance improvement of the sensors.

Fabrication and sensing characteristics of intrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometers in fiber tapers

This Letter presents intrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometers in the fiber tapers fabricated by the femtosecond laser micromachining technique. The sensing of temperatures as high as 1000°C based on the fiber device is characterized, with a sensitivity of 15.28 pm∕°C. A nearly linear refractive index sensing is also obtained by using the fringe visibility to characterize, with a sensitivity of 73.05 dB∕RIU. These intrinsic Fabry–Perot interferometers in fiber tapers may be useful in applications of high-temperature and linear refractive index sensing.