Fiber-reinforced Composite Structures with

Embedded Piezoelectric Sensors

R.Schulze*~, P.Streit*, T.Fischer+, A.Tsapkolenko*, M.Heinrich+, M.Sborikas#, L.Kroll+, T.Gessner*~, M.Wegener#
*Center for Microtechnologies, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz, GERMANY,
robert.schulze@zfm.tu-chemnitz.de
+
Institute of Lightweight Structures, Technische Universität Chemnitz, Chemnitz, GERMANY
~
Fraunhofer Institute for Electronic Nano Systems (ENAS), Chemnitz, GERMANY
#
Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research (IAP), Potsdam, GERMANY

Abstract— Embedding of piezoelectric materials into fiber-

reinforced composites is constituted as promising technology to
develop ultra-sensitive structural health monitoring
functionalities, e. g. strain measurement or acoustic emission
testing. Here, we present latest results of embedding
piezoelectric polymer foils into fiber-reinforced composite
structures. The applied processing technique allows the Fig. 1. Layer composition of the plane fiber-reinforced composite
implementation of several piezoelectric transducers at different structure with embedded piezoelectric polymer transducers
positions within the fiber-reinforced composite. For studying
the functionality non-destructive impact testing and three- Supplemental to glass fiber plies, piezoelectric polymer
point bending experiments were carried out to characterize the transducers are initially positioned in the two-part tool before
composite. Exemplarily, the functionality of the embedded epoxy resin is injected into the mold. A symmetric isotropic
sensors is demonstrated by means of triggering an embedded layer construction of the structural member with a fiber
light emitting diode which is switched on after the piezoelectric
volume fraction of 50 % was used for the integration of
transducer sensed mechanical strain.
piezoelectric polymer films. The reinforcement was realized
Keywords—Lightweight Structure Integration, Piezoelectric by a glass-fiber fabric with twill weave (2/2) of 282 g/m²
Polymer, Embedding, Structural Health Monitoring basis weight. The functional layers were stacked within the
tool oriented in [0 ° / piezoelectric layer / 0 ° / 0 ° / 0 °]. The
I. INTRODUCTION matrix system is composed of epoxy resin L (Bisphenol
A / F) and hardener EPH 294 at the ratio of 100:31. After
Structural health monitoring (SHM) of lightweight filling the tool, the maximum pressure is gradually adjusted:
structures such as fiber-reinforced composites is important 5 min at 1 bar, 2 bar up to complete filling, 20 min at 3 bar.
because in many application scenarios these components are To reduce the viscosity of the matrix resin and thereby
safety relevant [1]. The integration of commercially available improve the wetting of the glass fiber layers and to reduce
piezoelectric polymers into flat fiber-reinforced components the gas bubble content and air pockets, the mold is heated
has been already demonstrated [2, 3]. Also, first studies during the filling to 60 °C. The part is cooled down in the
concerning the structural integrity have been published [4]. mold afterwards. Subsequent to 16 h post-cross linking and
However, studying the feasibility of embedding tailored reduction of residual stress the part is annealed 90 min at
piezoelectric polymers into composite structures is essential 100 °C. Finally, the component is cured and demolded. The
for developing reliable embedded SHM systems. panels were cut into samples with a size of 158 mm × 98 mm
Furthermore, the influence of the sensor positioning on the and the piezoelectric polymer transducer was electrically
electromechanical performance necessitates investigations. connected for upcoming characterization.
Consequently, designs for optimal sensing have to be found.
III. TAILORING OF PIEZOELECTRIC POLYMERS FOR
II. EMBEDDING OF PIEZOELECTRIC TRANSDUCERS EMBEDDING
For studying the feasibility of embedding piezoelectric Previous to embedding, the polymer films had been
polymers into epoxy resin glass-fiber-reinforced composite processed from P(VDF-TrFE) solved in a mixture of
structures, plane samples with the layer composition shown dimethyl formamide (DMF) and methyl ethyl ketone
in Fig. 1 were designed. The manufacturing of plane panels (MEK) and thermally treated in order to evaporate the
(510 mm × 680 mm × 1 mm) was performed using resin solvent and adjust the crystallinity in the polymer. To
transfer molding (RTM) process [5]. achieve an electrical polarization sinusoidal electric fields in
bipolar and unipolar cycles were applied [6]. The
polarization was calculated from the measured dependencies
of voltage and current as a function of time during poling.

978-1-4799-0162-3/14/$31.00 ©2014 IEEE

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As an example, Fig. 2 shows the polarization – electric-field performance in relation to the impact point via monitoring
hysteresis curve measured during poling of a P(VDF-TrFE) the dynamic behavior of the composite plate. Therefore the
layer which has been embedded afterwards. It is shown that signal bandwidth is limited from 3 Hz to 50 kHz.
a well-suited polarization could be realized. Fig. 3 shows the locations of seven different impact
points. The broadband impact onto the two side clamped
plate leads to motion of the specimen. Different drop
heights (91 mm up to 551 mm) with potential energies from
10.6 mJ up to 64.3 mJ were tested.

Fig. 2. Measured polarization of a P(VDF-TrFE) film during poling

Circular P(VDF-TrFE) films with 30 mm diameter and a

thickness of 22 µm coated with CNT-polymer composite
electrodes by air-brushing were chosen for the embedding.
IV. CHARACTERIZATION
For the characterization of the manufactured composite Fig. 4. Maximum charge as a function of impact location tested with non-
structures two different experiments were carried out. In the destructive impact testing.
following, results of a non-destructive impact test and
Fig. 4 depicts the maximum charge generated at different
classical three-point bending experiments are presented.
impact points for different drop heights. As expected it is
Before and after the electromechanical testing, impedance
found that the charge generation increases approximately
measurements were carried out for checking the
proportional with the drop height. Furthermore, the charge
functionality of the piezoelectric sensors.
generation varies at different impact locations across the
In contrast to the attempts discussed in the references
structure. The measured charge is related to the mechanical
[2, 3, 7, 8] the focus of the aimed measurements is not
energy converted by the piezoelectric transducer due to the
primarily on damage detection but rather on testing the
transferred momentum. The sensed signal is caused by
electromechanical functionality. However, the
propagating waves excited by vibrations of the composite
measurements follow significant structural health
structure. Depending on the distance between the impact
monitoring tests. Thus, the embedded sensors are
location and the transducer position interference or
additionally investigated regarding the usage in self-
extinction may occur. On balance, this effect is not that
contained sensor systems.
strong as expected and the structure is well suited for
Clamping monitoring dynamic loads and also for modal analyses of
composite structures. Furthermore it can be seen that
dropping onto the transducer location (position 5) a similar
piezoelectric signal is observed. That means that the
thickness mode of the piezoelectric transducers is not
relevant for low-energy impacts.

Fig. 3. Points of impact in relation to the transducer position on the

rectangular sample

A. Non-destructive Impact Testing

The test setup for non-destructive impact testing consists
of a self-made drop tester using a steel ball of 11.9 g weight,
a charge amplifier Metra M68 and an oscilloscope. The test
is used to determine the dependency of the sensor Fig. 5. FFT analysis of the non-destructive impact test results

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 generated charge in relation to the displacement could be
A Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) using a observed for displacements over 5 mm. Superimposed
HAMMING window has been carried out to calculate the vibrations and damping lead to a relatively constant charge
spectrum shown in Fig. 5. It can be seen, that similar generation for the different displacements.
frequencies of the composite structure are excited for every
C. Measurement of the Electrical Impedance
impact location.
Because of its feasibility electrical impedance
measurements are widely use to characterize piezoelectric
B. Three-Point-Bending Experiments transducers itself as well as structures, where they are
In order to test the rigidity of the samples, three-point applied on, e. g. for damage testing [8].
bending experiments with a ZWICK ROELL Z5.0TN
testing machine according to DIN ISO 14125 were carried
out. The plane sample has been loaded with 150 N and the
piezoelectric signal was measured in parallel using a
METRA M68 charge amplifier and an oscilloscope. In
Fig. 6 the results of the bending test are shown. A
compliance of 0.11 m/N that means a linear behavior
between displacement and force is observed up to a
deflection of 7 mm. For larger displacements non-linear
behavior is observed. Slipping may distort the measurement
at very high deflections. The subsequent capacitance
measurement of 2.22 nF indicates no damage of the
piezoelectric transducer. Also no visible damage could be
observed.
Fig. 8. Measured impedance curve for three different clamping conditions
(free, clamped with 190 N/m² and embedded)

As one example, Fig. 8 shows the impedance of an

embedded transducer. The impedance measured before and
after the bending with 150 N (not shown here) is quite
similar. The resonance frequency is observed at 36.54 kHz
with a relative strong damping.
For the investigation of the embedding three different
Fig. 6. Force-displacement curves for a maximum load of 150 N transducers were compared. First, the impedance was
measured for the blank piezoelectric transducer. Second, the
transducer is clamped with an area load of 190 N/m² and
these are compared with the embedded transducer. The
results depicted in Fig. 8 indicate a shift of the damped
resonance by using a clamping. That means that embedding
causes a strong clamping and therefore fine linkage to the
composite. Consequently, due to stiffening the sensor by
clamping or embedding the damped resonance frequency
shifts to higher values.
In addition to that the thickness mode of the transducer,
observed at around 7 MHz is strongly damped by
embedding. Further resonances of the transducer due to
bending are also eliminated.

Fig. 7. Generated electrical charge measured for different bending

D. Application as Threshold Detector
displacements A threshold detector has been realized to demonstrate the
functionality of the embedded transducer. Referring to [9] a
The dependency of the electrical output has been lumped element model of the functional demonstrator is
investigated for different displacements. In Fig. 7 the shown in Fig. 9. A transducer output voltage of 240 mV was
transient signals measured at a feed rate of 8.3 mm/s are set as threshold using a comparator circuit. Therewith,
plotted. The results for different bending displacements are already smooth bending of the composite is triggering an
shown. The measured signals characterize the behavior of embedded LED shown in Fig.10.
the bending machine. The excitation due to start and stop of
the bending is observed. The expected dependency of the

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Fig. 9. Lumped element model of the embedded piezoelectric transducer used for displaying the a induced strain by triggering a LED

electromechanical performance. It could be shown, that the

full polymer piezoelectric transducer with CNT-composite
electrodes is well matched to the matrix of the polymer.
Three point bending loads of over 150 N do not lead to any
performance decrease. The effect of embedding has been
shown by means of impedance measurements. Non-
destructive drop testing indicates a good electromechanical
coupling. Consequently, piezoelectric polymers are well-
suited for the embedding and for structural health
Fig. 10. Plane structure for testing the piezoelectric activity after monitoring as well as for self-contained sensor application
embedding by means of triggering an embedded LED to detect threshold loads.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
V. OUTLOOK
The work has been done in the framework of the nano
The embedding is also feasible for curved structures and system integration network of excellence nanett (03IS2011)
also for multiple piezoelectric transducers. Fig. 11 shows the funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and
concept (top) and a first realized curved structure with four Research. Financial support from the German Research
embedded transducer (bottom) made by hand lay-up. The Foundation (DFG) as part of the cluster of excellence
characterization is in progress. “MERGE” (EXC 1075) and the CRC/Transregio 39 “PT-
PISA” is also gratefully acknowledged.
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