Using nanotubes to detect and repair cracks in aircraft wings, other ... (gnostics and no additional or expensive ...)

Using nanotubes to detect and repair cracks in aircraft wings, other structures

Date:9/27/2007

gnostics and no additional or expensive equipment.

Koratkars team made a structure from common epoxy, the kind used to make everything from the lightweight frames of fighter jet wings to countless devices and components used in manufacturing and industry, but added enough multi-walled carbon nanotubes to comprise 1 percent of the structures total weight. The team mechanically mixed the liquid epoxy to ensure the carbon nanotubes were properly dispersed throughout the structure as it dried in a mold. The researchers also introduced into the structure a series of wires in the form of a grid, which can be used to measure electrical resistance and also apply control voltages to the structure.

By sending a small amount of electricity through the carbon nanotubes, the research team was able to measure the electrical resistance between any two points on the wire grid. They then created a tiny crack in the structure, and measured the electrical resistance between the two nearest grid points. Because the electrical current now had to travel around the crack to get from one point to another, the electrical resistance the difficulty electricity faces when moving from one place to the next increased. The longer the crack grew, the higher the electrical resistance between the two points increased.

Koratkar is confident this method will be just as effective with much larger structures. Since the nanotubes are ubiquitous through the structure, this technique can be used to monitor any portion of the structure by performing simple resistance measurements without the need to mount external sensors or sophisticated electronics.

The beauty of this method is that the carbon nanotubes are everywhere. The sensors are actually an integral part of the structure, which allows you to monitor any part of the structure, Koratkar said. Weve shown that nanoscale science, if applied creatively, can really make a difference in large-scale engineering and stru
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Contact: Michael Mullaney
mullam@rpi.edu
518-276-6161
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Source:Eurekalert

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Using nanotubes to detect and repair cracks in aircraft wings, other ...(gnostics and no additional or expensive ...)