Development and Characterization of transferable Thin Film Sensor Technology on Carbon Fibre reinforced Plastics

Abstract:
Condition monitoring using sensors is relevant for many technological components made of various materials. In this context, the interest on carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) increases. Existing measurement methods usually allow only indirect measurement or the integrated sensor represents a defect in the layer structure. This paper presents a new approach for the integration of sensors into CFRP. This approach is based on thin-film coating of a water-soluble substrate, transfer to CFRP, dissolution of the transfer substrate with water and embedding in further layers of CFRP. High adhesion of the transferred coatings has been demonstrated. The conductivity of the transferred coatings is not influenced by the embedding in further layers of CFRP. A fabricated strain gauge sensor structure showed a change in resistance as a function of applied strain. When the sensor was stretched by 1.75 mm, the resistance increased by 2 Ω. When the strain was removed, the measured resistance returned to its original value.