Characterization of Piezoelectric Fibers for Sensing Shock Waves from Underwater Explosions

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I effort will demonstrate the feasibility of using piezoelectric fibers to detect shock waves from underwater explosions (UNDEX) and sensing physiological measures such as heart and respiratory rates on warfighters. Piezoelectric fibers will be characterized for their ability so sense different amplitudes and frequencies of shock and vibration. A controller will be developed that can adequately process and signals from the piezoelectric fibers and stores the data to a removable memory storage. The research performed in Phase I will identify piezoelectric fibers that can sense low frequency low amplitude shock, and different fibers that can sense high-frequency high-amplitude shocks.Low-frequency low-amplitude sensing fibers can be used to sense physiological measures such as heart and respiratory rates, whereas high-frequency high-amplitude sensing fibers can be used to sense UNDEX. Through the identification and characterization of the fibers that possess these qualities, a wearable e-textile will be developed consisting of multiple, interwoven, piezoelectric fibers with multiple sensing capabilities.