Monitoring the hysteresis effects in the strain-stress curve of carbon fiber reinforced laminates by FBG technology

In this paper, we present a study of detecting the hysteresis effect in strain-stress curve of carbon fiber reinforced materials by Fiber Bragg Grating technology. By calculating the dissipative energy density contoured by hysteresis loops, this method can be further applied in detecting the cracks and fatigue of carbon fiber reinforced laminates. In contrast to the traditional sensors, such FBG sensors have numerous merits, such as small size, immunity to Electromagnetic Interference and easy installation into the carbon fiber reinforced laminates. This method can also be extended into monitoring other materials which also exhibit hysteresis effects in their strain-stress curves.