Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

SAGETRACK

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Web of Science (2)
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zhang, Y.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

In Situ Fatigue Crack Detection using Piezoelectric Paint Sensor

Yunfeng Zhang

Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Lehigh University 13 E., Packer Avenue, Bethlehem, PA 18015, USA, yuz8{at}lehigh.edu

This article reports the recent development of a surface fatigue crack detection technique based on the use of surface-mount piezoelectric paint sensor. Polymer-based piezoelectric paints that can be directly deposited onto the surface of host structures are being utilized to make the sensor for surface crack detection. Because of its electromechanical coupling properties, voltage signals can be generated by the piezoelectric paint sensor when subjected to mechanical strain in its film plane. Results from recent development of the piezoelectric paint-based surface crack detection technique indicate that piezoelectric paint sensors with a special electrode design can potentially provide an effective method to detect fatigue cracks occurring in structural surfaces. A simple damage index is defined to determine the occurrence of surface cracks in a pre-specified region. However, complex sensor electrode patterns may be necessary in some cases to improve the spatial resolution of surface crack detection. Experiments conducted to validate this surface crack detection technique are also described in this study.

Key Words: crack • damage detection • piezoelectric • sensor • smart material

Journal of Intelligent Material Systems and Structures, Vol. 17, No. 10, 843-852 (2006)
DOI: 10.1177/1045389X06059957
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?