압전기법을 이용한 복합재료 손상모니터링의 가능성에 관한 연구

Abstract

Since crack detection for laminated composites in-service is effective to improve the structural reliability of laminated composites, it have been tried to detect cracks of laminated composites by various nondestructive methods. An electric potential method is one of the widely used approaches for detection of cracks for carbon fiber composites, since the electric potential method adopts the electric conductive carbon fibers as reinforcements and sensors and the adoption of carbon fibers as sensors does not bring strength reduction induced by embedding sensors into the structures such as optical fibers. However, the application of the electric method is limited only to electrically conductive composite materials. Recently, a piezoelectric method using piezoelectric characteristics of epoxy adhesives has been successfully developed for the adhesive joints because it can monitor continuously the damage of adhesively bonded structures without producing any defects. Polymeric materials for the matrix of composite materials have piezoelectric characteristics similarly to adhesive materials, and the fracture of composite materials should lead to the fracture of polymeric matrix. Therefore, it seems to be valid that the piezoelectric method can be applied to monitoring the damage of composite materials. In this research, therefore, the feasibility study of the damage monitoring for composite materials by piezoelectric method was conducted. Using carbon fiber epoxy composite and glass fiber composite, charge output signals were measured and analyzed during the static and fatigue tests, and the effect of fiber materials on the damage monitoring of composite materials by the piezoelectric method was investigated.