J Mater Sci Technol ›› 2004, Vol. 20 ›› Issue (06): 746-750.

• Research Articles • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Piezoresistivity in Carbon Fiber Reinforced Cement Based Composites

Bing CHEN, Keru WU, Wu YAO   

  1. Department of Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiaotong University, Shanghai 200240, China
  • Received:1900-01-01 Revised:1900-01-01 Online:2004-11-28 Published:2009-10-10
  • Contact: Bing CHEN

Abstract: The results of some interesting investigation on the piezoresistivity of carbon fiber reinforced cement based composites (CFRC) are presented with the prospect of developing a new nondestructive testing method to assess the integrity of the composite. The addition of short carbon fibers to cement-based mortar or concrete improves the structural performance and at the same time significantly decreases the bulk electrical resistivity. This makes CFRC responsive to the smart behavior by measuring the resistance change with uniaxial pressure. The piezoresistivity of CFRC under different stress was studied, at the same time the damage occurring inner specimens was detected by acoustic emission as well. Test results show that there exists a marking pressure dependence of the conductivity in CFRC, in which the so-called negative pressure coefficient of resistive (NPCR) and positive pressure coefficient of resistive (PPCR) are observed under low and high pressure. Under constant pressures, time-dependent resistivity is an outstanding characteristic for the composites, which is defined as resistance creep. The breakdown and rebuild-up process of conductive network under pressure may be responsible for the pressure dependence of resistivity.

Key words: Carbon fiber, Cement-based composites, Piezoresistivity