Design and Preliminary Experimental Validation of a 3D-Printed Resistive Pressure Sensor for Embedded Aerospace Monitoring

Additive manufacturing offers a promising method to integrate sensing functions into lightweight aerospace components, enabling distributed monitoring architectures with reduced installation complexity. This paper presents the design and preliminary metrological characterization of a resistive pressure sensor fabricated by fused filament fabrication (FFF) technique using flexible thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) and conductive TPU. The proposed device is conceived as a proofof- concept prototype aimed at the preliminary experimental validation of pressure sensing functions integrated into additively manufactured polymeric components for aerospace monitoring applications. The sensing mechanism is based on the deformation of a flexible diaphragm hosting a conductive TPU track. Internal pressure causes diaphragm deflection, which elongates the conductive path and generates a measurable resistance variation. A dedicated pneumatic test bench was developed to characterize the prototype. Pressure, electrical resistance, and temperature were acquired synchronously through laboratory instrumentation controlled by a LabVIEWbased acquisition system. Experimental tests were conducted over a pressure range of about 0–1 bar through ten cycles. The results showed high correlation between pressure and resistance, with a mean sensitivity of about 80 kΩ/bar and a mean repeatability error of about 5 kΩ. Although the prototype is at an early development stage, the results provide a first experimental validation of a sensing architecture compatible with future integration into additively manufactured aerospace components.