ABSTRACT
Actuators and/or sensors embedded into a host material will disrupt the physical properties of the host. Finite element analysis was used to determine and to minimise the stress concentrations which arise in a ‘smart’ material system due to the embedded optical fibre sensor. An optimisation routine was used to perform a parametric study to determine the theoretical mechanical and thermal properties of the interface coating that minimise the disruption of the host material properties, due to the optical fibre inclusion. The effects of transverse tensile and thermal loading were studied, including the effect of manufacturing residual stresses. The stress concentrations in the composite host are affected by the dimensions and the mechanical and thermal properties of the interface coating. The results show that with careful selection of the interface coating properties the stress concentrations in the host material caused by the optical fibre inclusion can be reduced to levels similar to those of the pure host material. It is proposed that a set of design curves are produced for a range of host material properties so that the appropriate optical fibre coating can be selected.
