Use of conventional and chirped optical fibre Bragg gratings to detect matrix cracking damage in composite materials

A comparison is made between conventional (i.e. uniform) and chirped optical fibre Bragg gratings (FBGs) for the detection of matrix cracking damage in composite materials. Matrix cracking damage is generally the first type of visible damage to develop under load in the off-axis plies of laminated composites and is generally the precursor of more serious damage mechanisms, particularly delamination. The detection of this type of damage is thus important, particularly in aerospace applications. Using a uniform FBG, characteristic changes develop in the reflected spectrum which can be used to identify crack development in the composite. The additional advantage of using a chirped grating is that the crack position can also be located.