OPTICAL FIBER COMPATIBILITY WITH ADVANCED ELECTRONIC/STRUCTURAL MATERIALS

OPTICAL FIBERS CAN BE EMBEDDED IN A COMPOSITE MATERIAL DURING PROCESSING. BY MONITORING THE INTENSITY, POLARIZATION, OR PHASE OF THE LIGHT PASSING THROUGH THE FIBER, LOCAL INFORMATION ON THE STATE OF THE COMPOSITE, I.E., TEMPERATURE, STRAIN, CAN BE OBTAINED. IN ONE CLASS OF IMPORTANT COMPOSITES, BORON OR CARBON FIBER IMPREGNATED WITH PEEK (POLYETHER-ETHER KETONE), THE CURING TEMPERATURE (UNDER PRESSURE) IS APPROXIMATELY 400 DEG C. ONLY THE POLYIMIDES AS A FIBER BUFFER COATING HAVE THE POSSIBILITY OF SURVIVING THIS TEMPERATURE. THE GOAL WILL BE TO EMBED POLYIMIDE COATED OPTICAL FIBERS IN A CARBON FIBER-PEEK COMPOSITE, AND ANALYZE ITS THERMAL AND MECHANICAL HISTORY. SECTIONS OF THE FIBER-COMPOSITE WILL BE TAKEN AND HIGH RESOLUTION SEM (LOW VOLTAGE) IMAGING, CHEMICAL ANALYSIS VIA EDS WILL BE USED TO DETERMINE THE AMOUNT OF THERMAL DEGRADATION THAT OCCURRED AS A CONSEQUENCE OF THE PROCESSING HISTORY. THE EFFECTS ON THE OPTICAL PERFORMANCE OF THE FIBER WILL ALSO BE STUDIED.