Piezoresistive sensor for strain measurement on turbine blade with wireless telemetry data acquisition

In the paper, strain-gauge sensor design and its application for wireless measurement of blade deformations and strains are presented. The strain sensor was designed using FEM (Finite Element Modeling) and uses piezoresistive strain sensitive boron doped nanocrystalline layers or insulated silicon layers (SOI). Nanocrystalline Diamond (NCD) is a very promising material for fabrication of harsh-environment devices because of its unique mechanical and electrical properties. The prospective of using diamond is not only in sensors (MEMS) but in RF and power electronic as well. Selection of method for data transfer is the key problem in rotating mechanisms. Traditional approach is using the slip ring, but it is not suitable for multisensor applications due to the requirement of one slip ring per sensing element. Telemetry can be related to transfer a data over any media, but is typically applied on wireless communications. A basic telemetry system consists of a measuring element or sensor, a device for sending the transmission, a receiver, and an output controller which records and displays data.