Mechanical Characterization of Composites with Embedded Optical Fibers

Abstract

The purpose of this investigation is to evaluate quantitatively and comparatively the effect of embedding optical fibers (OF) on the mechanical behavior of a carbon fiber-epoxy composite in order to verify whether their presence can possibly degrade the mechanical performance of the host material. The existing literature on this subject is not conclusive about the nature and intensity of this effect. Adding more reliable data to our systematic study contributes to this discussion favoring the conclusion about a harmful influence as a consequence of optical fiber embedment. Three kinds of mechanical tests have been performed in this work: impact tests, static flexural tests, and fatigue tests. The results of some experiments point to a possible detrimental influence related to the presence of the OF, being it different in nature and intensity for each of these tests. The mechanical behavior in static loading conditions seems to be not significantly affected as a consequence of the presence of the OF, while that in impact and fatigue tests are strongly affected, even though this influence being physically distinct from each other. Based on these results, some discussion is made about the possible failure mechanisms that can explain the detected differences.