Performance Improvement Method of CFRP with Embedded Optical Fiber

Optical fiber-based sensors are usually applied in structural health monitoring(SHM)as part of smart materials.The weak interface between the optical fiber and the host material will reduce the mechanical performance of the smart materials.Normally,the principal parts of the optical fibers are inorganic,while the matrix of host material is organic.These two kinds of materials can not be combined.Micro-fracture can be found in smart materials.Two methods for improving the interface are proposed.Firstly,the influence of the interface size on the strength is studied.Secondly,interfacial treatment before embedding the optical fiber into the composite is analyzed.Compressive tests of composite laminated specimens are conducted to evaluate the proposed methods.The specimens are produced from T300Carbon/epoxy prepreg,with different treated optical fiber embedded inside.The experimental results indicate that smaller interface size and proper treatment will strengthen the whole structure.