Monitoring the failure forms of a composite laminate system by using panda polarization maintaining fiber Bragg gratings.

Abstract

In this paper, the property of panda polarization maintaining fiber Bragg gratings (PPM-FBGs) embedded in a composite laminate system (CLS) under a transversal force from 1 × 105 Pa to 5 × 105 Pa is explored. Both the wavelengths shift and the rotation angle of the principal axes of the PPM-FBGs are surveyed theoretically. We investigate the corresponding relation between the direction of external force and the rotation angle of principal axes of the PPM-FBGs and prove that the magnitude and direction of the strain distribution in the CLS can be monitored simultaneously, which can realize the detection of interlaminar damage of the CLS. We find that the strain, which corresponds to the shift of wavelengths of the PPM-FBGs, has a different angular dependence, and therefore the potential failure forms of the CLS can be differentiated.