Simultaneous Application of Fibrous Piezoresistive Sensors for Compression and Traction Detection in Glass Laminate Composites

This article describes further development of a novel Non Destructive Evaluation (NDE) approach described in one of our previous papers. Here these sensors have been used for the first time as a Piecewise Continuous System (PCS), which means that they are not only capable of following the deformation pattern but can also detect distinctive fracture events. In order to characterize the simultaneous compression and traction response of these sensors, multilayer glass laminate composite samples were prepared for 3-point bending tests. The laminate sample consisted of five layers of plain woven glass fabrics placed one over another. The sensors were placed at two strategic locations during the lay-up process so as to follow traction and compression separately. The reinforcements were then impregnated in epoxy resin and later subjected to 3-point bending tests. An appropriate data treatment and recording device has also been developed and used for simultaneous data acquisition from the two sensors. The results obtained, under standard testing conditions have shown that our textile fibrous sensors can not only be used for simultaneous detection of compression and traction in composite parts for on-line structural health monitoring but their sensitivity and carefully chosen location inside the composite ensures that each fracture event is indicated in real time by the output signal of the sensor.