Abstract
Next-generation lightweight-designed structures shall be able to perform self-state assessment via integrated health monitoring systems. In this article a carbon nanotube-embedded polymeric thin film is applied via inkjet-printing to perform spatial strain sensing in conjunction with using electrical impedance tomography. To gain an advanced understanding of the thin film’s spatial strain sensitivity, the elastoresistivity matrix, a fourth-order tensor correlating the strain state of a conductor into its normalized change in resistivity state, is characterized. The Montgomery method is adopted to derive the planar resistivity coefficients of the thin film, and a digital image correlation system is used to measure the planar strains. A validation test suggests that the calculated determinant of the correlated change in anisotropic resistivity shows a fairly similar result to the measured isotropic EIT reconstruction results.
Highlights
The concept of lightweight design is to minimize the weight of a structure without compromising its loading-capacity
In this article a carbon nanotube-embedded polymeric thin film is applied via inkjet-printing to perform spatial strain sensing in conjunction with using electrical impedance tomography
A validation test suggests that the calculated determinant of the correlated change in anisotropic resistivity shows a fairly similar result to the measured isotropic electrical impedance tomography (EIT) reconstruction results
Summary
The concept of lightweight design is to minimize the weight of a structure without compromising its loading-capacity. Loyola et al [7] further extended its application to glass-FRP composites Researchers such as Loyola et al [27] attempt to apply EITcoupled CNT thin films as spatial strain sensors to monitor the strain distribution of a given area under loading. This paper proposes to characterize the elastoresistivity of an inkjet-printed CNT thin film using tensor analysis to correlate its electrical property change to the undergoing strain state. The characterized elastoresistivity tensor is applied to correlate the strain state distribution map developed over a CNT thin film into a conductivity map, which is compared with the spatial conductivity map reconstructed by EIT to verify the results. The work attempts to interpret EIT results in terms of the strain state of a loaded body, gaining knowledge of the spatial electromechanical behavior of the inkjet-printed CNT thin films. Future research are motivated to enable spatial strain state sensing of the thin film via implementation of the characterization results
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