Structural Health Monitoring with Carbon Nanotube and Graphene Sensors

Low dimensionality materials continue to gain interest in the research community due to a combination of unique optical, electronic transport, and structural properties. Carbon Nanotubes and graphene are two such materials that are attractive for structural health monitoring applications. Single layer graphene is transparent, conductive, strong, flexible, and amenable to deposition by inkjet printing techniques. Carbon nanotubes are extremely strong and lightweight, and available in forms that can be printed, stitched or applied as a sensory patch on a structure. In this work the flexibility, conductivity, and processing capabilities of these low dimensionality carbon structures are coupled to produce directly printed strain sensors. Experimental results from coupon testing through full-scale flight tests are presented and a path toward structural systems with inherent health monitoring discussed.