ABSTRACT
Over the past several years, there has been an increasing effort in developing strategies for structural health monitoring of brous composites [1-6]. Among the variety of different sensor concepts, the application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) shows great potential for this purpose in composite materials. When the amount of CNTs exceeds the system’s percolation threshold, a CNT network within the matrix is formed, and any applied mechanical strain causes a dimensional change on the nanoscale. Thus, the electrical resistance is a function of the applied strain and allows us to in situ monitor the strain and, thereby, possibly the associated damage in the composite. As the size of many defects in composite materials is in the submillimeter range, CNTs are well suited for strain mapping on this scale due to their small dimensions.
