Athanasios Baltopoulos

Damage identification in carbon fiber reinforced polymer plates using electrical resistance tomography mapping

This study addresses the issue of structural damage identification and location in carbon fiber reinforced polymer plates using electrical measurements. Electrical resistance tomography is presented as a method for structural damage localization in composite parts. A set of electrodes is fixed on the edges of the part and combinations of DC current injections and voltage measurements are applied to the system. The change of voltage between different times in the part’s service life (e.g. start and degraded) are monitored. These sets of measurements are used as input to inversely calculate conductivity maps for the complete composite part and thus indirectly assess its structural health. Such processes are inherently ill-posed. Data post-processing approaches are proposed here to diminish this uncertainty and to conclude to an optimally converge solution of the inverse problem. To assist the process, a material-originating mathematical constraint is introduced. The method is applied on carbon fiber reinforced polymer plates for different damage modes. Experimental recordings show that the analysis of electrical fields allows detecting the presence of damage. Discontinuities as small as 0.1% of the inspected area can be sensed. The proposed data post-processing techniques were applied and conductivity maps were calculated. The results show that using these techniques locating damage is possible with less than 10% error. Material-based constraints greatly enhance the prediction of the data post-processing techniques. It is believed that by overcoming certain implementation issues, electrical resistance tomography could evolve in the direction of a non-destructive evaluation or a structural health monitoring technique for composite structures.

Multifunctional carbon nanotube-based nano-composites for aerospace applications

Composites are gaining interest over traditional engineering materials for a plethora of applications, especially high end such as aerospace. Nano-materials have given rise to extensive research for revealing multifunctional performance capabilities of the novel composite material systems. The result is multi-scale-reinforced composites which offer the advantage to integrate functionalities at a system level. Multifunctionality of composite material systems can have different forms and can extend over different levels. The achieved functionality varies with the nano-material integration approach and targeting. In this chapter, we present a systemic approach to the development of nano-reinforced composites. With the perspective set on aerospace applications, we perform a critical review of their multifunctional performance and capacities emphasizing on the damage tolerance and electrical properties achieved. Demonstration cases offering promising future applications and exploitation of the nano-phase for functional applications are presented.

The effect of silicon carbide nanoparticles on the multifunctionality of epoxy polymers and CFRPs

In this work the effect of silicon carbide nanoparticles (n-SiC) into an epoxy matrix was investigated. High shear mixing techniques combined with sonication methods were used to homogeneously disperse the Silicon Carbide nanoparticles (Nano-SiC) in bisphenol-A epoxy resin at 1% weight fraction. SEM and AFM were used to evaluate the achieved dispersion in the nanopolymer. Mechanical, thermal and dynamic tests were performed to evaluate the nanopolymer and directly compared with the neat resin. On polymer level the produced materials showed improvement in the mechanical properties reaching up to 25% and 30% in Youngs modulus and failure stress respectively. The nanopolymer exhibited a more brittle behavior through the decrease of the maximum strain at fracture. The thermal properties of the nanocomposite were highly affected leading to an enhancement of the thermal conductivity and thermal effusivity of the material. Meanwhile the glass transition temperature increased up to 28% as measured through DMA tests. The aforementioned material was used as the matrix material in order to produce carbon fibre reinforced panel. The improved properties of the nanopolymer have enhanced the fracture properties of the composite material as the dispersed nanospheres can work as arrestors/deflectors of the propagating cracks through the composite.