Alpha-alumina is known to exhibit photo-luminescent (PL) properties, mainly characteristic R-lines that shift according to applied stress. In addition to showing excellent PL properties, polymers with embedded alumina nanoparticles have been shown to improve the overall composite mechanical properties. While the use of the PL properties to develop stress-sensing materials using an alumina-epoxy material has been success- fully shown in compression, the properties have not been developed for tension. In this study, the PL response of variable volume fraction alumina-epoxy composites will be determined under tensile conditions. It is expected that increasing the volume fraction of alumina nanoparticles will increase the sensitivity of the particles PL emission shift to applied stress. Three tensile alumina-epoxy specimens of 21.0%, 31.2%, and 34.5% volume fractions were manufactured and tested under tensile static loads. The results of this experiment will determine the piezospectroscopic (PS) coeffi cient and calibration of bulk alumina nanocomposites in tension. A linear region was identified in the PS response of the nanocomposite to the applied tensile load. The PS coeffi cient of this linear region increased as the volume fraction of the nanocomposite increased. To demonstrate the application of structural composites with stress sensing capabilities, alumina nanoparticles were integrated in the manufacturing of a carbon fiber composite specimen. The results of the stress-sensing composite mechanical experiment showed that alumina nanoparticles were able to detect changes in stress. The results for both the bulk nanocomposite calibrations and the application of stress-sensing alumina nanoparticles in a carbon-fiber composite will advance the development of this novel stress-sensing method.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-5718 |
| Date | 01 January 2014 |
| Creators | Fugon-Dessources, Daniela |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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