Calculation of electrical conductivity and electrothermal analysis of multilayered carbon reinforced composites: application to damage detection

• Κύριος συγγραφέας: Αθανασόπουλος, Νικόλαος
• Άλλοι συγγραφείς: Κωστόπουλος, Βασίλειος
• Μορφή: Thesis
• Γλώσσα: English
• Έκδοση: 2013
• Θέματα: Electrochemical analysis; Electrical anisotropy; Multilayer materials; Carbon fibers; Joule effect; Finite difference method; Smart and multifunctional materials; Damage detection; Ηλεκτροθερμική ανάλυση; Ηλεκτρική ανισοτροπία; Πολύστρωτα υλικά; Ίνες άνθρακα; Φαινόμενο Joule; Πεπερασμένες διαφορές; Έξυπνα πολυλειτουργικά υλικά; Ανίχνευση βλάβης; 620.112 97

During this thesis, it has been proved that the electrical conductivity of multilayered and electrically anisotropic carbon fiber materials can be expressed by an equivalent second order tensor, which is equal to sum of each layer’s electrical conductivity tensor. The aforementioned equivalent electrical conductivity tensor is valid assuming that the material’s thickness is negligible compared to the other dimensions of the body. The mathematical expression for the prediction of the electrical conductivity of a multilayered material for any stacking sequence, is based on the electric current conservation, and was validated using different methods. Each layer’s electrical conductivity was experimentally studied at the two principal directions. Transverse to the fibers’ direction, an empirical model was developed for the prediction of the electrical conductivity as a function of the layer’s thickness, of the fibre volume fraction and of temperature. All cases involved the study of multidirectional and unidirectional carbon fiber materials without the presence of matrix (porous form – CF preform) as well as in the presence of polymeric matrix (CFRP). The validation of the equivalent tensor was achieved through three different ways: a) through the measurement of the electric resistance, for various stacking sequences, b) through the Joule heating effect, by recording and comparing the developing temperature field to the respective numerically calculated, c) through 3D numerical models which approximate the analytical solution of the 2D domain problem. Moreover using the finite difference method, certain electrothermal models were developed in order to study the temperature field for different stacking sequences. The electrical problem can be expressed by an elliptic PDE, for the case where the material is electrically anisotropic and homogeneous, or non-homogeneous. On the other hand, the transient heat transfer problem involves the case where the material is thermally anisotropic and homogeneous. Using the equivalent tensor, the 3D domain problem is simplified to a 2D domain problem resulting in less computational requirements for the solution of the problem. The present research study could be used in a plethora of application, such as the development of carbon fibre reinforced heating elements (direct heating CFRP molds) as well as damage detection in multidirectional composite materials with electrical conductive reinforcement.