High-gain pre-transduction strain amplification inspired from the dome shape structure of insect campaniform sensillum

In this paper, strain amplification of dome shape structure inspired by campaniform sensillum was investigated with the aim of proving that besides a hole that locally amplifies the strain, the dome shape structure also plays an important role in the sensing mechanism. Acting as a second mechanical signal amplifier, the concentrated strain is further amplified. Our simulation result showed that equivalent edge displacement ΔL induced by the concentrated strain was further amplified in vertical direction Δh, with the gain value of 50 before it becomes higher and then will be maintained at a gain value of 70. However dome structure introduces a nonlinearity which was demonstrated when the structure loses its stability as the applied load exceeds the critical value of buckling. The biomimetic structure has a potential application as pre-transduction signal pre-amplifier in strain sensing devices, especially when miniaturization is concerned. Hence, before mechanical signal is transduced into electrical signal, it is being concentrated and amplified by the bio-inspired structure.