In the current study Active Fiber Composites (AFC) utilizing Lead-Zirconate-Titanate (PZT) fibers with Kapton(R) screen printed interdigitated electrodes (IDE) were integrated into carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) laminates to investigate integration issues associated with smart structures and host laminate integrity. To aid in this goal surrogate or "dummy" AFC (DAFC) using a composite core and Kapton(R) outer layers (to match the longitudinal mechanical and interface properties of the AFC) were employed. These DAFC were used in place of real AFC to expedite test specimen manufacture and evaluation. This allowed efficient investigation of the impact of an integrated AFC-like inclusion on laminate mechanical integrity. Laminates with integrated AFC were additionally tested with signal monitoring to assess AFC health during the test. Investigation into laminate failure was accomplished via a finite element model of the system which was created in ANSYS to investigate failure in the composite plies. Tsai-Wu failure criterion was calculated to investigate laminate failure characteristics. Integration of AFC into CFRP laminates degraded laminate strength by 13.3% using insertion integration and 7.8% using the interlacing integration technique. The finite element model showed that interlacing integration enabled distribution of critical forces over the entire laminate while insertion integration led to critical forces concentrating over the integration region.
In the current study Active Fiber Composites (AFC) utilizing Lead-Zirconate-Titanate (PZT) fibers with Kapton screen printed interdigitated electrodes (IDE) were integrated into orthotropic glass fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) laminates to investigate integration issues associated with smart structures and host laminate integrity. To aid in this goal surrogate or "Dummy" AFC (DAFC) were designed using a GFRP core and Kapton outer layers to match the longitudinal mechanical and interface properties of the AFC. These DAFC were used in place of real AFC to expedite test specimen manufacture and evaluation. This allowed efficient investigation of the impact of an integrated AFC-like inclusion on laminate mechanical integrity. Two integration techniques, cutout and simple insertion were investigated using DAFC, with little difference seen between the integrity of laminates prepared using these two methods. Using this testing scheme the influence of device placement in relation to position extending away from the laminate symmetric axis was found to have an effect on laminate integrity in tensile loading. As the DAFC were placed far from the laminate symmetry axis, the ultimate tensile strength and strain of the laminates decreased in a linear manner while the Young's modulus of the laminates remained constant. Similar trends were observed with integrated AFC specimens. The performance of integrated AFC was characterized using monotonic cyclic tensile loading with increasing strain levels. A transition region was observed between strains of 0.05%-0.50%, with a dramatic decrease in AFC sensitivity from a maximum to minimum value.
The scientific community has put significant efforts into the manufacturing and optimization of sensors and actuators made of piezoelectric fibres with interdigitated electrodes, well known as Active Fibre Composites (AFC). A great advantage of such AFC is their flexibility and the possibility to integrate them into composite structures.
In the current study an approach of optimizing the manufacturing process as well as the polarization of AFCs utilizing piezoelectric Lead-Zirconate-Titanate (PZT) fibres embedded in an epoxy matrix between interdigital Electrodes (IDE) screenprinted on Kapton will be discussed. During the poling process, an electric field is applied over the interdigitated electrodes of the AFC to its piezoelectric fibres along the fibre axis. One of the most important parameters of this polarization is, beside temperature and time, the applied voltage. An increase of the electric field results in an increase of the AFCs performance as shown by free-strain measurements.
The manufacturing process developed and used at Empa consists of laminating the piezoelectric fibres in an epoxy matrix between the electrodes. An essential goal of this lamination, carried out in a hot press, is to get a proper contact between piezo fibres and the electrode. By adding soft layers between the Kapton foil and the mould, the interdigitated electrodes are deformed by each single fibre and therefore build up a contact area which in its cross section can be described by a contact angle. This optimization of the manufacturing process is also shown by free strain measurements of the AFC.
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