Conductive Smart Nanocomposite Polymeric Materials for Structural Health Monitoring and Motion Detection

Abstract: Presented work collects results from evaluation of different polymeric based composite materials for applications in Structural Health Monitoring and Strain Detection. With the aim of showing the variety of key materials in sectors like civil aviation, wind energy, automotive or railway that present this ability, specimens of very different nature have analyzed: a) thermoplastic commercial 3D printing filaments loaded with carbonic nanofillers; b) epoxy resin loaded with graphene and c) long carbon fiber reinforced resin composite. Measurements of electrical properties of resulting materials were taken to evaluate capability to detect the presence and the size of a structural defect as well as its spatial location. On the other hand, simultaneous measurements of electrical resistivity and mechanical strain during tensile tests were performed to analyze the behavior of materials as strain detectors. All composites studied have shown a positive response (modification of electrical performance) to external mechanical stimulus: induced damage and deformations.