EMBEDDED PIEZO MICRO-SENSOR FOR REAL TIME HEALTH MONITORING OF STRUCTURAL MATERIALS

The proposed concept combines the advantages of fiber optic geometry and piezoelectric materials to produce a superior active strain sensor. The sensor will be produced with innovative manufacturing processes of sputtering multi-layered thin films of piezoelectric materials and insulators. Such a sensor, suitable for embedding into structureal composites, would impart real-time monitoring capabilities for: 1. Manufacturing processes, 2. Vibration and, 3. Fracture and delamination through acoustic wave measurements. The piezo fiber sensor will provide a way to measure strain at discrete points in the structure without excessive wire cluttering. The piezo sensor does not require additional inboard instruments for generation and control of input signals. Since the sensor will have a metal wire base, the fracture problems associated with fiber optics and piezoelectric sheets will be significantly reduced. The sensor will be electrically isolated from the host material to eliminate interference and cross talk. The Phase I objective is to show the feasibility of the concept through fabrication and testing of a composite structural element embedded with the novel sensor.