In Situ Detection of Water Leakage for Textile-Reinforced Composites.

Julie Regnier,Christine Campagne,Eric Devaux,Aurélie Cayla

doi:10.3390/s20226641

Abstract

By incorporating electrically conductive yarns into a waterproof membrane, one can detect epoxy resin cracking or liquid leakage. Therefore, this study examined the electrical conductivity variations of several yarns (metallic or carbon-based) for cracking and water detection. The first observations concerned the detectors’ feasibility by investigating their conductivity variations during both their resin implementation processes and their resin cracking. Throughout this experiment, two phenomena were detected: the compression and the separation of the fibres by the resin. In addition, the resin cracking had an important role in decreasing the yarns’ conductivity. The second part of this study concerned water detection. Two principles were established and implemented, first with yarns and then with yarns incorporated into the resin. First, the principle of absorption was based on the conductivity variation with the yarns’ swelling after contact with water. A short circuit was established by the creation of a conductive path when a drop of water was deposited between two conductive, parallel yarns. Through the influence of the yarns’ properties, this study explored the metallic yarns’ capacity to better detect water with a short circuit and the ability of the carbon-based yarns to detect water by the principle of absorption.

Highlights

Over the last decade, the development of new detectors for the environmental, medical, scientific and athletic fields has been increasing
To examine the influence on the water detection, all of the yarns and the monofilaments were first studied without resin byby controlling their electrical conductivity according to to thethe two studied without thewithout resin the bythe controlling their electrical conductivity according to the two principles of first studied resin controlling their electrical conductivity according two first studied of without the resin by controlling their electrical conductivity according to theand twothe principles detection: absorption and short circuits
Image, tended to decrease during the resin implementation of the yarn due to the compression of the resin, the darkest part, on them. This phenomenon of compression was mentioned by Pereira et al [28], on a yarn of SS/polyethylene terephthalate (PET) in 20/80 proportions by weight, and studied by Tseghai et al [29], in their work on resistive pressure sensors in stainless steel fabric

Summary

Introduction

The development of new detectors for the environmental, medical, scientific and athletic fields has been increasing. These detectors are used to control physical parameters. Detectors are used to change an observed physical or chemical quantity into a usable signal. They are able to detect a variation in temperature, stress or displacement and transform it into electric tension. One of their applications is infrastructure monitoring, such as in the case of a liquid leak For this function, the detector can be incorporated in composites, for example, a textile-reinforced concrete (TRC) structure. The reinforced textile is moulded into a resin or concrete

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Conclusion