Piezoresistive dynamic simulations of FDM 3D-Printed embedded strain sensors: a new modal approach

3D-printing of embedded piezoresistive sensors has been making the numerical dynamic simulation necessary to develop new smart 3D structures, which have essentially a dynamic nature. This work researches the potentiality of coupled piezoresistive finite-element modeling (FEM) to dynamically simulate 3D-printed embedded sensors. A new modal approach is proposed, proving theoretically the linearity of the weak coupled-field model, under the assumption of constant current and small perturbations. This method has been numerically validated comparing it to the nonlinear full-transient analysis both in the time and frequency domain, providing a reduction factor of the computation time of ~ 600. Finally, the piezoresistive model has been experimentally validated, highlighting its real effectiveness. The computation time performances of the proposed linear approach are opening new possibilities to dynamically simulate whatever piezoresistive smart structure in the preliminary design phase.