scholarly journals Analysis of Important Fabrication Factors That Determine the Sensitivity of MWCNT/Epoxy Composite Strain Sensors

Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (23) ◽  
pp. 3875 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mun-Young Hwang ◽  
Lae-Hyong Kang
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Structural Health Monitoring ◽  
Health Monitoring ◽  
Conductivity Measurement ◽  
Strain Sensors ◽  
Tunneling Effect ◽  
Gauge Factor ◽  
Filler Concentration ◽  
Structural Health ◽  
Wide Range

Composite sensors based on carbon nanotubes have been leading to significant research providing interesting aspects for realizing cost-effective and sensitive piezoresistive strain sensors. Here, we report a wide range of piezoresistive performance investigations by modifying fabrication factors such as multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) concentration and sensor dimensions for MWCNT/epoxy composites. The resistance change measurement analyzed the influence of the fabrication factors on the changes in the gauge factor. The dispersion quality of MWCNTs in the epoxy polymer matrix was investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and conductivity measurement results. A configuration circuit was designed to use the composite sensor effectively. It has been shown that, in comparison with commercially available strain gauges, composites with CNT fillers have the potential to attain structural health monitoring capabilities by utilizing the variation of electrical conductivity and its relation to strain or damage within the composite. Based on the characteristics of the MWCNT, we predicted the range of conductivity that can be seen in the fabricated composite. The sensor may require a large surface area and a thin thickness as fabrication factors at minimum filler concentration capable of exhibiting a tunneling effect, in order to fabricate a sensor with high sensitivity. The proposed composite sensors will be suitable in various potential strain sensor applications, including structural health monitoring.

Highly Elastic Strain Gauges Based on Shape Memory Alloys for Monitoring of Fibre Reinforced Plastics

2017 ◽  
Vol 742 ◽  
pp. 778-785
Author(s):  
Thomas Mäder ◽  
Inaki Navarro y de Sosa ◽  
Björn Senf ◽  
Peter Wolf ◽  
Martin Hamm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Health Monitoring ◽  
Shape Memory Alloys ◽  
Shape Memory ◽  
Health Monitoring ◽  
Strain Sensors ◽  
Strain Gauges ◽  
Gauge Factor ◽  
Resistance Change ◽  
Structural Health ◽  
Reinforced Plastics

Conventional strain gauges made of constantan or CuCr for instance have a low value for structural health monitoring issues in plastic composites. These strain sensor materials exhibit small elastic regions and show fatigue when dynamically loaded with strain levels over 0.3 percent. For this reason, these sensors would break or fail before the composite life-time and thus cannot be integrated into this kind of composite materials. Pseudoelastic thermal shape memory alloys are therefore used as strain sensors and integrated into composites in order to allow piezoresistive strain measurement and structural health monitoring in such materials. Thermal treatments are used to create sensor structures out of shape memory alloy wires. Pseudoelastic shape memory wires can be strained up to 8 percent repeatedly. Their gauge factor is higher than 5. Shape memory strain sensors are successfully embedded into glass fibre reinforced plastics and show a significant and reproducible resistance change when the composite is strained. The dynamic strength is magnificently higher compared to conventional strain gauges. Shape memory strain sensors are an efficient alternative to fiber-bragg-grating sensors and can potentially be used for strain measurements in different plastics and textile materials. Shape memory sensor structures can be embedded or applied and are good candidates for structural characterisation and monitoring applications.

scholarly journals Large-Area Resistive Strain Sensing Sheet for Structural Health Monitoring

Sensors ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 1386 ◽  
Author(s):  
Levent E. Aygun ◽  
Vivek Kumar ◽  
Campbell Weaver ◽  
Matthew Gerber ◽  
Sigurd Wagner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Structural Health Monitoring ◽  
Health Monitoring ◽  
Printed Circuit Board ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Field Tests ◽  
Circuit Board ◽  
Gauge Factor ◽  
Peak Strain ◽  
Large Area ◽  
Structural Health

Damage significantly influences response of a strain sensor only if it occurs in the proximity of the sensor. Thus, two-dimensional (2D) sensing sheets covering large areas offer reliable early-stage damage detection for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. This paper presents a scalable sensing sheet design consisting of a dense array of thin-film resistive strain sensors. The sensing sheet is fabricated using flexible printed circuit board (Flex-PCB) manufacturing process which enables low-cost and high-volume sensors that can cover large areas. The lab tests on an aluminum beam showed the sheet has a gauge factor of 2.1 and has a low drift of 1.5 μ ϵ / d a y . The field test on a pedestrian bridge showed the sheet is sensitive enough to track strain induced by the bridge’s temperature variations. The strain measured by the sheet had a root-mean-square (RMS) error of 7 μ ϵ r m s compared to a reference strain on the surface, extrapolated from fiber-optic sensors embedded within the bridge structure. The field tests on an existing crack showed that the sensing sheet can track the early-stage damage growth, where it sensed 600 μ ϵ peak strain, whereas the nearby sensors on a damage-free surface did not observe significant strain change.

Utilization of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in concrete for structural health monitoring (SHM) purposes: A review

2021 ◽  
Vol 309 ◽  
pp. 125137
Author(s):  
Mohammad Siahkouhi ◽  
Ghani Razaqpur ◽  
N.A. Hoult ◽  
Mohammad Hajmohammadian Baghban ◽  
Guoqing Jing
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Structural Health Monitoring ◽  
Health Monitoring ◽  
Structural Health

scholarly journals Opportunities and Challenges for Structural Health Monitoring of Radioactive Waste Systems and Structures

2013 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Giurgiutiu ◽  
Adrián E. Méndez Torres
Keyword(s):  
Structural Health Monitoring ◽  
Radioactive Waste ◽  
Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Health Monitoring ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
High Level Radioactive Waste ◽  
Structural Health ◽  
Used Nuclear Fuel ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
High Level

Radioactive waste systems and structures (RWSS) are safety-critical facilities in need of monitoring over prolonged periods of time. Structural health monitoring (SHM) is an emerging technology that aims at monitoring the state of a structure through the use of networks of permanently mounted sensors. SHM technologies have been developed primarily within the aerospace and civil engineering communities. This paper addresses the issue of transitioning the SHM concept to the monitoring of RWSS and evaluates the opportunities and challenges associated with this process. Guided wave SHM technologies utilizing structurally-mounted piezoelectric wafer active sensors (PWAS) have a wide range of applications based on both propagating-wave and standing-wave methodologies. Hence, opportunities exist for transitioning these SHM technologies into RWSS monitoring. However, there exist certain special operational conditions specific to RWSS such as: radiation field, caustic environments, marine environments, and chemical, mechanical and thermal stressors. In order to address the high discharge of used nuclear fuel (UNF) and the limited space in the storage pools the U.S. the Department of Energy (DOE) has adopted a “Strategy for the Management and Disposal of Used Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Radioactive Waste” (January 2013). This strategy endorses the key principles that underpin the Blue Ribbon Commission’s on America’s Nuclear Future recommendations to develop a sustainable program for deploying an integrated system capable of transporting, storing, and disposing of UNF and high-level radioactive waste from civilian nuclear power generation, defense, national security, and other activities. This will require research to develop monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis tools that can aid to establish a strong technical basis for extended storage and transportation of UNF. Monitoring of such structures is critical for assuring the safety and security of the nation’s spent nuclear fuel until a national policy for closure of the nuclear fuel cycle is defined and implemented. In addition, such tools can provide invaluable and timely information for verification of the predicted mechanical performance of RWSS (e.g. concrete or steel barriers) during off-normal occurrence and accident events such as the tsunami and earthquake event that affected Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The ability to verify the conditions, health, and degradation behavior of RWSS over time by applying nondestructive testing (NDT) as well as development of nondestructive evaluation (NDE) tools for new degradation processes will become challenging. The paper discusses some of the challenges associated to verification and diagnosis for RWSS and identifies SHM technologies which are more readily available for transitioning into RWSS applications. Fundamental research objectives that should be considered for the transition of SHM technologies (e.g., radiation hardened piezoelectric materials) for RWSS applications are discussed. The paper ends with summary, conclusions, and suggestions for further work.

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