Crack-induced electrical resistivity changes in cracked CNT-reinforced composites

Carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced composites exhibit a piezoresistive behavior that permits their use as sensors in novel structural health monitoring (SHM) applications, by measuring the electrical resistivity change of the CNT modified laminate. However, the presence of cracks in such composite mat...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Rodríguez de Tembleque Solano, Luis, García Sánchez, Felipe, García Macías, Enrique, Buroni Cuneo, Federico Carlos, Sáez Pérez, Andrés
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2020
País:España
Institución:Universidad de Sevilla (US)
Repositorio:idUS. Depósito de Investigación de la Universidad de Sevilla
OAI Identifier:oai:idus.us.es:11441/154968
Acceso en línea:https://hdl.handle.net/11441/154968
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tafmec.2019.102470
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Carbon nanotube
Crack detection
Nanocomposites
Piezoresistivity
Damage identification
Descripción
Sumario:Carbon nanotube (CNT)-reinforced composites exhibit a piezoresistive behavior that permits their use as sensors in novel structural health monitoring (SHM) applications, by measuring the electrical resistivity change of the CNT modified laminate. However, the presence of cracks in such composite materials may not only compromise their structural integrity, but may as well alter their capability to act as reliable piezoresistive sensors. In this paper, we conduct a numerical study aimed at quantifying how the presence of cracks in reinforced polymer composites does influence their electrical conductivity and, consequently, their sensor performance. To this end, the electromechanical constitutive properties of the composite are determined by a mixed micromechanics approach that allows characterizing both the elastic properties and the strain-induced alterations in the overall electrical conductivity of the CNT-reinforced composite. The strain response of the cracked composite domain is accurately determined by means of a dual Boundary Element (BE) approach. Electrical conductivity in the cracked composite follows from its computed strain state at each point in the domain. Subsequently, the resulting non-homogeneous electrical conductivity problem is solved using a finite differences scheme that also accounts for semipermeable crack-face electrical boundary conditions. Several parametric studies are conducted to illustrate the influence of various crack geometries in the piezoresistive behavior of CNT-reinforced composites at varying CNTs concentrations.