Development of carbon fiber-based piezoresistive linear sensing technique

Abstract

In this paper, the development of carbon fiber-based piezoresistive linear sensing technique and its application in civil engineering structures is studied and summarized. The sensing mechanism is based on the electrical conductivity and piezoresistivity of different types of carbon fibers. Firstly, the influences of values of signal currents and temperature on the sensing properties are studied to decide the suitable sensing current. Then, the linear temperature and strain sensing feasibility of different types of carbon fibers is addressed and discussed. Finally, the application of this kind of sensors is studied in monitoring the health of reinforced concrete (RC) and prestressed concrete (PC) structures. A good linearity of fractional change in electrical resistance (ER) (ΔR/R0)-strain and &DeltaR/R0-temperature is demonstrated. The &DeltaR/R0-strain and &DeltaR/R0-temperature curves of CFRP/HCFRP sensors can be well fitted with a line with a correlation coefficient larger than 0.978. All these reveal that carbon fibers reinforced polymer (CFRP) can be used as both piezoresistive linear strain and temperature sensors.