{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,20]],"date-time":"2026-03-20T18:27:00Z","timestamp":1774031220821,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":33,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,2]],"date-time":"2024-03-02T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1709337600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100000104","name":"NASA","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["80NSSC22CA085"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["80NSSC22CA085"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100000104","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>In this paper, a MEMS piezoresistive ultrathin silicon membrane-based strain sensor is presented. The sensor\u2019s ability to capture an acoustic emission signal is demonstrated using a Hsu\u2013Nielsen source, and shows comparable frequency content to a commercial piezoceramic ultrasonic transducer. To the authors\u2019 knowledge, this makes the developed sensor the first known piezoresistive strain sensor which is capable of recording low-energy acoustic emissions. The improvements to the nondestructive evaluation and structural health monitoring arise from the sensor\u2019s low minimum detectable strain and wide-frequency bandwidth, which are generated from the improved fabrication process that permits crystalline semiconductor membranes and advanced polymers to be co-processed, thus enabling a dual-use application of both acoustic emission and static strain sensing. The sensor\u2019s ability to document quasi-static bending is also demonstrated and compared with an ultrasonic transducer, which provides no significant response. This dual-use application is proposed to effectively combine the uses of both strain and ultrasonic transducer sensor types within one sensor, making it a novel and useful method for nondestructive evaluations. The potential benefits include an enhanced sensitivity, a reduced sensor size, a lower cost, and a reduced instrumentation complexity.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s24051637","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,4]],"date-time":"2024-03-04T04:36:21Z","timestamp":1709526981000},"page":"1637","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Dual-Use Strain Sensors for Acoustic Emission and Quasi-Static Bending Measurements"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"24","author":[{"given":"Jason","family":"Stiefvater","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA"}]},{"given":"Yuhong","family":"Kang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NanoSonic, Inc., 158 Wheatland Drive, Pembroke, VA 24136, USA"}]},{"given":"Albrey","family":"de Clerck","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NanoSonic, Inc., 158 Wheatland Drive, Pembroke, VA 24136, USA"}]},{"given":"Shuo","family":"Mao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA"}]},{"given":"Noah","family":"Jones","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NanoSonic, Inc., 158 Wheatland Drive, Pembroke, VA 24136, USA"}]},{"given":"Josh","family":"Deem","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"NanoSonic, Inc., 158 Wheatland Drive, Pembroke, VA 24136, USA"}]},{"given":"Alfred","family":"Wicks","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8116-0791","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hang","family":"Ruan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA"},{"name":"NanoSonic, Inc., 158 Wheatland Drive, Pembroke, VA 24136, USA"}]},{"given":"Wing","family":"Ng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061, USA"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,3,2]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"90","article-title":"Conformal Acoustic Waveguide Sensor Development","volume":"Volume 1918","author":"Schoess","year":"1993","journal-title":"Smart Structures and Materials 1993: Smart Sensing, Processing, and Instrumentation"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Chakraborty, D., and McGovern, M.E. 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