A Multi-Scale Modeling Approach for Simulating Crack Sensing in Polymer Fibrous Composites Using Electrically Conductive Carbon Nanotube Networks. Part II: Meso- and Macro-Scale Analyses

Tserpes, Konstantinos; Kora, Christos

doi:10.3390/aerospace5040106

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A Multi-Scale Modeling Approach for Simulating Crack Sensing in Polymer Fibrous Composites Using Electrically Conductive Carbon Nanotube Networks. Part II: Meso- and Macro-Scale Analyses

Konstantinos Tserpes

^* and

Christos Kora

Laboratory of Technology & Strength of Materials, Department of Mechanical Engineering & Aeronautics, University of Patras, Patras 26500, Greece

Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Aerospace 2018, 5(4), 106; https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace5040106

Received: 26 August 2018 / Revised: 17 September 2018 / Accepted: 4 October 2018 / Published: 9 October 2018

(This article belongs to the Special Issue ECO-COMPASS: Ecological and Multifunctional Composites for Application in Aircraft Interior and Secondary Structures)

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Abstract

This is the second of a two-paper series describing a multi-scale modeling approach developed to simulate crack sensing in polymer fibrous composites by exploiting interruption of electrically conductive carbon nanotube (CNT) networks. The approach is based on the finite element (FE) method. Numerical models at three different scales, namely the micro-scale, the meso-scale and the macro-scale, have been developed using the ANSYS APDL environment. In the present paper, the meso- and macro-scale analyses are described. In the meso-scale, a two-dimensional model of the CNT/polymer matrix reinforced by carbon fibers is used to develop a crack sensing methodology from a parametric study which relates the crack position and length with the reduction of current flow. In the meso-model, the effective electrical conductivity of the CNT/polymer computed from the micro-scale is used as input. In the macro-scale, the final implementation of the crack sensing methodology is performed on a CNT/polymer/carbon fiber composite volume using as input the electrical response of the cracked CNT/polymer derived at the micro-scale and the crack sensing methodology. Analyses have been performed for cracks of two different lengths. In both cases, the numerical model predicts with good accuracy both the length and position of the crack. These results highlight the prospect of conductive CNT networks to be used as a localized structural health monitoring technique. View Full-Text

Keywords: carbon nanotubes; polymer nanocomposites; electrical conductivity; crack sensing; multi-scale modeling

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Tserpes, K.; Kora, C. A Multi-Scale Modeling Approach for Simulating Crack Sensing in Polymer Fibrous Composites Using Electrically Conductive Carbon Nanotube Networks. Part II: Meso- and Macro-Scale Analyses. Aerospace 2018, 5, 106. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace5040106

AMA Style

Tserpes K, Kora C. A Multi-Scale Modeling Approach for Simulating Crack Sensing in Polymer Fibrous Composites Using Electrically Conductive Carbon Nanotube Networks. Part II: Meso- and Macro-Scale Analyses. Aerospace. 2018; 5(4):106. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace5040106

Chicago/Turabian Style

Tserpes, Konstantinos, and Christos Kora. 2018. "A Multi-Scale Modeling Approach for Simulating Crack Sensing in Polymer Fibrous Composites Using Electrically Conductive Carbon Nanotube Networks. Part II: Meso- and Macro-Scale Analyses" Aerospace 5, no. 4: 106. https://doi.org/10.3390/aerospace5040106

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A Multi-Scale Modeling Approach for Simulating Crack Sensing in Polymer Fibrous Composites Using Electrically Conductive Carbon Nanotube Networks. Part II: Meso- and Macro-Scale Analyses

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