Electric Resistance Change Method for Cure/Strain/Damage Monitoring of CFRP Laminates

This paper shows monitoring of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates by means of changes of electrical property of CFRP. Carbon fiber is electrical conductive materials and polymers are insulator. When electric current is applied to the CFRP laminates, many kinds of information are obtained such as degree of cure, applied strain and damages. For these monitoring, carbon fiber itself is adopted as a sensor. This paper shows the experimental results of the method to monitor the degree of cure, applied strain and damage. As a result, the method is shown to be effective for monitoring CFRP laminates of degree of cure, applied strain and damage.