Investigation on carbon nanoparticle (CNP)-polymer sensors for fatigue monitoring of fiber-reinforced composites.

Carbon nanoparticle (CNP)-polymer sensors are good candidates for monitoring structural damage. A combined numerical-analytical approach with considering the stiffness degradation of composite is proposed to calculate the resistance variations with the cyclic loads. The electro-mechanical behavior of the sensor can be simulated through the finite element analysis of a random representative volume element model and the equivalent resistance calculation of microcircuit. Then, taking the glass fiber-reinforced composite coated with the CNP-epoxy resin as example, its electro-mechanical behavior under tension-tension cyclic loading is investigated experimentally and numerically. Furthermore, by microscopic analysis, the fatigue damage monitoring mechanism of the sensor is revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]