Cure Monitoring and SHM of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Part I : Impedance Analysis and Multiphysic Sensitivity

International audienceThe high-performance composite materials based on carbon fiber are increasingly used in critical security areas (aeronautics, civil engineering). Thus, it is important to know their characteristics during curing process or their use. We present herein a technique of electrical impedance analysis to extract some specific material properties (resistance and capacitance) in order to know its behavior. As the material microstructure contains a conductor part (carbon fiber) and an insulator part (resin), a model of electrical conduction in the material was established by using a network of a resistance RP connected in parallel with a capacitance CP (impedance Z). Spectroscopic impedance analysis of the studied samples informs about the intrinsic properties of material and shows a sensitivity of these electrical parameters (RP, CP) according to the curing cycle. Then the sensitivity to some physical parameters (temperature, deformations, etc.) will be demonstrated in order to know the health of the material, thus ensure Structural Health Monitoring (SHM)