Andreas Nocke

MINIATURIZED TEXTILE-BASED MULTI-LAYER PH-SENSOR FOR WOUND MONITORING APPLICATIONS

Abstract: Wound assessment has become an important issue in the wound treatment procedure. One important indicator of the wound status is the pH value. Our approach to assess this quantity is through use of a fiber sensor coated with a pH-responsive hydrogel, which functions as a sensitive layer for impedance measurements. An advantage of this is its integratability into wound dressings using standard textile technologies. The pH characteristic shows a pH-dependent behavior of the absolute impedance at certain frequencies. The fabrication technology and sensor characteristics are discussed. The values of almost 14% impedance change demonstrate the potential for improvement by optimizing fabrication technologies. The presented sensor meets all requirements necessary for wound pH assessment

Electro-bending characterization of adaptive 3D fiber reinforced plastics based on shape memory alloys

The industrial importance of fiber reinforced plastics (FRPs) is growing steadily in recent years, which are mostly used in different niche products, has been growing steadily in recent years. The integration of sensors and actuators in FRP is potentially valuable for creating innovative applications and therefore the market acceptance of adaptive FRP is increasing. In particular, in the field of highly stressed FRP, structural integrated systems for continuous component parts monitoring play an important role. This presented work focuses on the electro-mechanical characterization of adaptive three-dimensional (3D)FRP with integrated textile-based actuators. Here, the friction spun hybrid yarn, consisting of shape memory alloy (SMA) in wire form as core, serves as an actuator. Because of the shape memory effect, the SMA-hybrid yarn returns to its original shape upon heating that also causes the deformation of adaptive 3D FRP. In order to investigate the influences of the deformation behavior of the adaptive 3D FRP, investigations in this research are varied according to the structural parameters such as radius of curvature of the adaptive 3D FRP, fabric types and number of layers of the fabric in the composite. Results show that reproducible deformations can be realized with adaptive 3D FRP and that structural parameters have a significant impact on the deformation capability.

Methods for adhesion/friction reduction of novel wire-shaped actuators, based on shape memory alloys, for use in adaptive fiber-reinforced plastic composites

For fiber-reinforced plastic composites, fiber-matrix adhesion is a significant aspect of composite properties. While conventional lightweight structures are always aiming for high fiber-matrix adhesion, innovative and unconventional functional constructions require different concepts. The research work treating adaptive fiber-reinforced plastic composites with shape memory alloy wires presented here uses the approach of actuators freely movable within the composite. This is supposed to prevent mechanical tensions in the interfaces of actuator and composite structure, which would otherwise cause damages of the composite. This work examines hybrid yarns based on friction spinning technology, with shape memory alloy wires as their core component as well as glass fibers, and partly polypropylene, as their sheath component. Additionally, the surface properties of the shape memory alloy wires being used are modified by sanding and coating. The results of a characterization by pull-out testing clearly show that a coating of the shape memory alloy wires with an abherent causes considerable decrease in adhesion and friction in the interface and leads to the mobility of the shape memory alloy wires in the later composite. An even greater effect is attained by sheathing the hybrid yarns in an additional layer of polypropylene, compacting the yarn cross-section. Thus, the pull-out force could be reduced to 35–40% of the reference structure.

Carbon filament yarn-based hybrid yarn for the heating of textile-reinforced concrete

In this study, the application of carbon filament yarn (CFY)-based conductive hybrid yarn as the heating element in a textile-reinforced concrete structure is reported. For this purpose, a hybrid yarn having a core-sheath structure (the core is made of carbon filament yarn and the sheath consists of a mixture of short glass and polypropylene fibres) is manufactured by DREF-2000 spinning technique and integrated into textile structure by tailored fibre placement method. Heat can be generated in the concrete structure by passing electric current through the conductive carbon filament yarn core of the hybrid yarn using the principle of resistive heating, where the sheath acts as the protection and isolation layer. From the initial investigations made on a small concrete specimen, important information is gathered and a large concrete slab with integrated conductive hybrid yarn is manufactured. The heat ability and the comfort level of the manufactured concrete slab are measured. The investigations have revealed the potential of using such hybrid yarn for a pointwise heating of the concrete surface for possible appliance in outdoor furniture.

Integrative Manufacturing of Textile-Based Sensors for Spatially Resolved Structural Health Monitoring Tasks of Large-Scaled Composite Components

For the continuous and non-destructive structural health monitoring (SHM) of fiber reinforced plastics (FRP), a one-step integration of one-or two-dimensional strain sensors based on piezo-resistive carbon filament yarns (CFY) into textile reinforced structures of subsequent FRP components has been realized during textile-technological manufacturing processes. The two-dimensional alignment of the sensor layouts is realized by a special process-integrated warp yarn path manipulation (WPM). With suchlike manufactured semi-finished reinforcement structures, a functional model of a small wind turbine blade in glass-fiber thermoset composite design has been build up. Using the CFYs’ piezo-resistive effect, mechanical strains can be measured and visualized due to a correlative change of the carbon filaments resistance. Performing quasi-static load tests on the blade and additional test specimens, comprehensible results of the electro-mechanical behavior and spatially resolving capacity of different sensor integration lengths have been achieved. The performed tests demonstrate, that global and even local mechanical stresses within complex FRP components can be measured spatially resolved using the approach of textile technologically integrated textile sensors.

Measurement Methods of Dynamic Yarn Tension in a Ring Spinning Process

The most common measuring method to characterise the dynamic yarn path in the ring spinning process is to measure the yarn tension, where the yarn path is almost straight. However, it is much more complex to measure the yarn tension at the other positions, for example, between the yarn guide and traveller (balloon zone) and between the traveller and winding point of the cop (winding zone), as the yarn rotates continuously around the spindle axis. In this paper, two new methods of yarn tension measurement in the balloon zone are proposed. In the first method, the balloon shape was first recorded with a high speed camera. The balloon tension was then calculated by comparing the yarn strain (occurring in the balloon zone) measured by a digital image analysis program with the stress-strain curve of the yarn produced. In the second method, the radial forces of the rotating balloon were measured by using modified measurement techniques for measurement of yarn ten sion. Moreover a customised sensor was developed to measure the winding tension between the traveller and cop. The values measured were validated with a theoretical model and a good correlation between the measured and theoretical values could be revealed.

Simulation-based development of adaptive fiber-elastomer composites with embedded shape memory alloys:

Fiber-reinforced composites are currently being used in a wide range of lightweight constructions. Function integration, in particular, offers possibilities to develop new, innovative products for a variety of applications. The large amount of experimental testing required to investigate these novel material combinations often hinders their use in industrial applications. This paper presents an approach that allows the layout of adaptive, fiber-reinforced composites by the use of numerical simulation. In order to model the adaptive characteristics of this functional composite with textile-integrated shape memory alloys, a thermo-elastic simulation is considered by using the Finite Element method. For the numerical simulation, the parameters of the raw materials are identified and used to generate the model. The results of this simulation are validated through deflection measurements with a specimen consisting of a glass fiber fabric with structurally integrated shape memory alloys and an elastomeric matrix system. The achieved experimental and numerical results demonstrate the promising potential of adaptive, fiber-reinforced composites with large deformation capabilities.

Multi-layered sensor yarns for in situ monitoring of textile reinforced composites

In this contribution, the characteristic of yarns that have intrinsically conductivity as well as such with coaxial conductive coatings acting as in situ strain sensors are described. The objective of the based research projects is the real-time in situ sensing of both global stresses acting on fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) components and the detection of resulted local microscopic damages due to creep, delamination and micro-cracks in the fibre-matrix interphase of glass fibre (GFRP) and carbon fibre (CFRP) composites. Sensor materials similar to the particular FRP and its mechanical behaviour have been chosen. In the first approach, GF- and aramid-based sensor yarns have been developed with multiple tailored silver layer coating system capable to distinguish multiple scaled damage mechanism due to these effects globally and locally. The second approach bases on the piezoresistive effect of CF rovings for their usage as in situ strain sensors. In the next step, suitable fibre and polymer film-based cleading have been tested and evaluated, granting sufficient electrical isolation to avoid shortcircuits between the conductive sensor layers itself or between the sensor and intrinsically conductive CFRP respectively. Initially, the sensor performance of global strain measurement, means the accumulated strain along the integration length of the sensor yarn, has been evaluated during tensile stressing of FRP with integrated suchlike functionalised sensor yarns.

Manufacturing technology of integrated textile-based sensor networks for in situ monitoring applications of composite wind turbine blades

Based on in situ strain sensors consisting of piezo-resistive carbon filament yarns (CFYs), which have been successfully integrated into textile reinforcement structures during their textile-technological manufacturing process, a continuous load of fibre-reinforced plastic (FRP) components has been realised. These sensors are also suitable for structural health monitoring (SHM) applications. The two-dimensional sensor layout is made feasible by the usage of a modular warp yarn path manipulation unit. Using a functional model of a small wind turbine blade in thermoset composite design, the sensor function for basic SHM applications (e.g. static load monitoring) are demonstrated. Any mechanical loads along the pressure or suction side of the wind turbine blade can be measured and calculated via a correlative change in resistance of the CFYs within the textile reinforcement plies. Performing quasi-static load tests on both tensile specimen and full-scale wind turbine blade, elementary results have been obtained concerning electro-mechanical behaviour and spatial resolution of global and even local static stresses according to the CFY sensor integration length. This paper demonstrates the great potential of textile-based and textile-technological integrated sensors in reinforcement structures for future SHM applications of FRPs.

Warp Knitted Textile-Based Sensors for In-Situ Structural Health Monitoring of Wind Turbine Blades

The structural health monitoring of large-scaled fiber-reinforced composite components plays a crucial role for the further advancement of lightweight design approaches for a large-range application spectrum. Using textile-based and technological integrated stress sensors within the composite’s textile reinforcement, the detection of serious structural damages on early stages as well as an in-situ monitoring of mechanical loading conditions in inaccessible areas within immediate distance of the load-bearing layers of the subsequent composite component can be realized by those in situ condition monitoring systems, enabling the possibility of just in time maintenance or even local repairs before full structural failures occur.