Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Graduate School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8656, Japan.
Department of Advanced Energy, Graduate School of Frontier Sciences, The University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa-shi, Chiba 277-8561, Japan.
Sensors (Basel). 2022 Sep 1;22(17):6604. doi: 10.3390/s22176604.
Carbon fibers and resin used in manufacturing carbon fiber-reinforced plastic composite structures flow before the resin solidifies, resulting in disrupted fiber orientation and non-uniform thickness. This process, known as consolidation, is critical for the quality of the composite structure, but no technology exists to measure the deformation in situ. This study proposes a strip-type embeddable shape sensor based on fiber optics for in situ monitoring of consolidation deformation. The sensor consists of a thin, flexible sheet with optical fibers embedded in the upper and lower surfaces of the sheet, and it can monitor out-of-plane bending deformation in composite materials during consolidation. Finite element analysis and experiments are used to evaluate the basic performance of the shape sensor before it is applied to composite gap/lap monitoring. For the first time, the relaxation of consolidation deformation due to the flow of fiber-resin suspension is measured. The proposed sensor will be a powerful tool for elucidating consolidation mechanisms and for validating composite manufacturing simulations.
碳纤维和树脂用于制造碳纤维增强塑料复合材料结构，在树脂固化之前流动，导致纤维取向中断和厚度不均匀。这个过程称为固结，对复合材料结构的质量至关重要，但目前还没有技术可以现场测量变形。本研究提出了一种基于光纤的带状嵌入式形状传感器，用于固结变形的原位监测。该传感器由一个薄而灵活的薄片组成，薄片的上下表面嵌入光纤，可在复合材料固结过程中监测复合材料的面外弯曲变形。在将形状传感器应用于复合材料间隙/搭接监测之前，使用有限元分析和实验来评估形状传感器的基本性能。首次测量了纤维-树脂悬浮液流动引起的固结变形松弛。所提出的传感器将是阐明固结机制和验证复合材料制造模拟的有力工具。
