The selectivity in composite damage sensing using the electrical resistance approach is investigated by deliberately placing multiwall carbon nanotubes dispersed within the matrix or deposited onto the fiber surface. To this aim, unidirectional glass fiber/carbon nanotube/vinyl ester specimens with fibers oriented along (0°) and transverse (90°) to the loading direction are subjected to quasi-static tension up to failure. The electrical resistance changes in the composite are correlated to the mechanical strain and acoustic emission events. Using this approach, it is shown that the electrical signal is able to discern between fiber and matrix (or fiber/matrix interface) damage. The electrical resistance of composites with multiwall carbon nanotubes located within the matrix is capable of tracking matrix-dominated damage but is poorly sensitive to fiber breakage. In contrast, the composites with multiwall carbon nanotube–modified fibers exhibit outstanding sensitivity to fiber- and fiber/matrix interface damage.
ASTM-International (2011) D2584–11Standard Test Method for Ignition Loss of Cured Reinforced Resins. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.
3.
ASTM-International (2014) D3039–14Test Method for Tensile Properties of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.
4.
AtivitavasNFowlerTJPothisiriT (2004) Identification of fiber breakage in fiber reinforced plastic by low-amplitude filtering of acoustic emission data. Journal of Nondestructive Evaluation23: 21–36.
5.
AvilésFCauich-RodríguezJVMoo-TahL, et al. (2009) Evaluation of mild acid oxidation treatments for MWCNT functionalization. Carbon47: 2970–2975.
6.
BalageasDFritzenC-PGüemesA (2006) Structural Health Monitoring. Newport Beach, CA: Wiley.
7.
Chia ChenCJung-RyulLHyung-JoonB (2008) Structural health monitoring for a wind turbine system: a review of damage detection methods. Measurement Science & Technology19: 122001.
8.
DiamantiKSoutisC (2010) Structural health monitoring techniques for aircraft composite structures. Progress in Aerospace Sciences46: 342–352.
9.
FarrarCRWordenK (2007) An introduction to structural health monitoring. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A365: 303–315.
10.
FernbergPNilssonGJoffeR (2009) Piezoresistive performance of long-fiber composites with carbon nanotube doped matrix. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures20: 1017–1023.
11.
FriedrichSMWuASThostensonET, et al. (2011) Damage mode characterization of mechanically fastened composite joints using carbon nanotube networks. Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing42: 2003–2009.
12.
GalloGJThostensonET (2015) Electrical characterization and modeling of carbon nanotube and carbon fiber self-sensing composites for enhanced sensing of microcracks. Materials Today Communications3: 17–26.
13.
GaoLThostensonETZhangZ, et al. (2009a) Coupled carbon nanotube network and acoustic emission monitoring for sensing of damage development in composites. Carbon47: 1381–1388.
14.
GaoLThostensonETZhangZ, et al. (2009b) Sensing of damage mechanisms in fiber-reinforced composites under cyclic loading using carbon nanotubes. Advanced Functional Materials19: 123–130.
15.
GaoS-LZhuangR-CZhangJ, et al. (2010) Glass fibers with carbon nanotube networks as multifunctional sensors. Advanced Functional Materials20: 1885–1893.
16.
GodinNHuguetSGaertnerR (2005) Integration of the Kohonen’s self-organising map and k-means algorithm for the segmentation of the AE data collected during tensile tests on cross-ply composites. NDT & E International38: 299–309.
17.
GodinNHuguetSGaertnerR, et al. (2004) Clustering of acoustic emission signals collected during tensile tests on unidirectional glass/polyester composite using supervised and unsupervised classifiers. NDT & E International37: 253–264.
18.
HaoBMaQYangS, et al. (2016) Comparative study on monitoring structural damage in fiber-reinforced polymers using glass fibers with carbon nanotubes and graphene coating. Composites Science and Technology129: 38–45.
19.
IrvingPESoutisC (2014) Polymer Composites in the Aerospace Industry. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing.
20.
KostopoulosVVavouliotisAKarapappasP, et al. (2009) Damage monitoring of carbon fiber reinforced laminates using resistance measurements. Improving sensitivity using carbon nanotube doped epoxy matrix system. Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures20: 1025–1034.
21.
Ku-HerreraJJAvilésFSeidelGD (2013) Self-sensing of elastic strain, matrix yielding and plasticity in multiwall carbon nanotube/vinyl ester composites. Smart Materials & Structures22: 085003.
22.
Ku-HerreraJJAvilésFNistalA, et al. (2015) Interactions between the glass fiber coating and oxidized carbon nanotubes. Applied Surface Science330: 383–392.
23.
Ku-HerreraJJCauich-RodríguezJVAvilésF (2014) On the role of fiber coating in the deposition of multiwall carbon nanotubes onto glass fibers. Nanoscience and Nanotechnology Letters6: 932–935.
24.
MacInnesD (1992) Creating conducting materials through solution blending of conducting polymers with commercial polymers. In: SalamoneJCRiffleJS (eds) Contemporary Topics in Polymer Science. Boston, MA: Springer, p. 380.
25.
MarecAThomasJHEl GuerjoumaR (2008) Damage characterization of polymer-based composite materials: multivariable analysis and wavelet transform for clustering acoustic emission data. Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing22: 1441–1464.
26.
MasmoudiSMahiAETurkiS, et al. (2014) Mechanical behavior and health monitoring by acoustic emission of unidirectional and cross-ply laminates integrated by piezoelectric implant. Applied Acoustics86: 118–125.
27.
SchulteKBaronC (1989) Load and failure analyses of CFRP laminates by means of electrical resistivity measurements. Composites Science and Technology36: 63–76.
28.
SebastianJSchehlNBouchardM, et al. (2014) Health monitoring of structural composites with embedded carbon nanotube coated glass fiber sensors. Carbon66: 191–200.
29.
ThostensonETChouT-W (2008) Carbon nanotube-based health monitoring of mechanically fastened composite joints. Composites Science and Technology68: 2557–2561.
30.
WangXChungDDL (1998) Self-monitoring of fatigue damage and dynamic strain in carbon fiber polymer-matrix composite. Composites Part B: Engineering29: 63–73.
31.
WangXFuXChungDDL (1999) Strain sensing using carbon fiber. Journal of Materials Research14: 790–802.
32.
WiegandNMäderE (2016) Multifunctional interphases: percolation behavior, interphase modification, and electro-mechanical response of carbon nanotubes in glass fiber polypropylene composites.Advanced Engineering Materials18: 376–384.
33.
XiaojunWChungDDL (1996) Continuous carbon fibre epoxy-matrix composite as a sensor of its own strain. Smart Materials and Structures5: 796.
34.
XiaojunWChungDDL (1997) Real-time monitoring of fatigue damage and dynamic strain in carbon fiber polymer-matrix composite by electrical resistance measurement. Smart Materials and Structures6: 504.
35.
ZhangHBilottiEPeijsT (2015a) The use of carbon nanotubes for damage sensing and structural health monitoring in laminated composites: a review. Nanocomposites1: 167–184.
36.
ZhangHKuwataMBilottiE, et al. (2015b) Integrated damage sensing in fibre-reinforced composites with extremely low carbon nanotube loadings. Journal of Nanomaterials2015: 7.
37.
ZhangJZhuangRLiuJ, et al. (2010) Functional interphases with multi-walled carbon nanotubes in glass fibre/epoxy composites. Carbon48: 2273–2281.
