EMBEDDED FIBER OPTIC SENSORS FOR POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITE PROCESS MONITORING

AT PRESENT, CONFIDENCE LEVELS IN THE INTEGRITY OF POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITE STRUCTURES ARE LOW DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTIESIN PROCESS CONTROL DURING THEIR MANUFACTURE. OPTIMIZATION OF PROCESS MONITORING TO ALLOW ADEQUATE CONTROL OF CHEMISTRYCHANGES DURING FABRICATION WILL REQUIRE IMPROVED PROCESS PARAMETER SENSORS AND CONTROL METHODOLOGIES. THE USE OF FIBER OPTIC SENSORS EMBEDDED WITHIN THE COMPOSITE STRUCTURE DURING FABRICATION IS PROPOSED AS A MEANS TOWARD THIS END. EMBEDDED SENSORS OFFER IMPROVED DATA ACCURACY OVER REMOTE SENSORS AND THE SMALL PHYSICAL DIMENSIONS OF OPTICAL FIBERS MINIMIZES THEIR IMPACT ON THE MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF THE FINISHED COMPOSITE. GEO-CENTERS, INC. PROPOSES A RESEARCH PROGRAM FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF FIBER OPTIC SENSORS AND THE APPLICATION OF THOSE SENSORS TO POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITE PROCESS MONITORING. EXISTING AND NOVEL FIBER OPTIC SENSORS WILL BE CHARACTERIZED AT HIGH TEMPERATURE AND IN A VARIETY OF COMPOSITE STRUCTURE CONFIGURATIONS. THE EFFECTS OF SENSOR EMBEDMENT ON THE MECHANICAL STRENGTH OF THE FINISHED COMPOSITE WILL BE INVESTIGATED.