Open Access

ARTICLE

Sensor Concept Based on Piezoelectric PVDF Films for the Structural Health Monitoring of Fatigue Crack Growth

Dennis Bäcker¹, Andreas Ricoeur², Meinhard Kuna¹

1 Technische Universität Bergakademie Freiberg, Instituteof Mechanics and Fluid Dynamics, Lampadiusstrasse 4, 09599 Freiberg, Germany.
2 Universität Kassel, Institute of Mechanics, Mönchbergstraße 7, 34125 Kassel, Germany.

Structural Durability & Health Monitoring 2011, 7(1&2), 1-22. https://doi.org/10.3970/sdhm.2011.007.001

Abstract

A new sensor concept for monitoring fatigue crack growth in technical structures is presented. It allows the in-situ determination of the position of the crack tip as well as the fracture mechanical quantities. The required data are obtained from a piezoelectric polymer film, which is attached to the surface of the monitored structure. The stress intensity factors and the crack tip position are calculated from electrical potentials obtained from a sensor array by solving the non-linear inverse problem.

---

Keywords

---