Electro-thermal–mechanical performance of a sensor based on PAN carbon fibers and real-time detection of change under thermal and mechanical stimuli

Yumna Qureshi (1) , Mostapha Tarfaoui (1) , Khalid Lafdi (2, 3)

1 IRDL - Institut de Recherche Dupuy de Lôme
2 University of Dayton
3 University of Northumbria at Newcastle [United Kingdom]

Structural health monitoring (SHM) is a vastly growing field consisting of sensors embedded in or attached with the structure which respond to the strain or other stimuli to monitor the deformation in real-time. In this study, a carbon fiber (CF) sensor was developed using unidirectional Polyacrylonitrile (PAN) carbon filaments aligned straightly together and its sensitivity was calculated experimentally, with the gauge factor (GF) in 10.2-10.8 range. The electro-thermal behavior of this CF sensor showed distinct performance and detected the change in the surrounding temperature. There is a good reproducibility in the results in both piezoresistive and electrothermal behavior of the CF sensor and its electrical performance showed real-time detection of both mechanical and thermal stimuli. The results established that the CF exhibited good potential as a flexible strain sensor for in-situ monitoring of damage or energy release during the failure of composites.

Keywords: Real-time monitoring system; PAN carbon fiber sensor; Electromechanical performance; Electro-thermal behavior

Domains: Engineering Sciences [physics]; Mechanics [physics.med-ph]; Mechanical engineering [physics.class-ph]; Physics [physics]; Physics [physics]; Instrumentation and Detectors [physics.ins-det]

Yumna Qureshi, Mostapha Tarfaoui, Khalid Lafdi. Electro-thermal–mechanical performance of a sensor based on PAN carbon fibers and real-time detection of change under thermal and mechanical stimuli. Materials Science and Engineering: B, 2021, 263, pp.114806. ⟨10.1016/j.mseb.2020.114806⟩. ⟨hal-03126964⟩