Monitoring of Allowable Bending Stress Overload in Glass‐Fiber‐Reinforced Polymer Composites Using Magnetostrictive Fe–Co Fibers

Abstract

For the safe operation of glass‐fiber‐reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates, evaluating the applied stress and the health of composite structures is crucial. Magnetostrictive materials are functional materials that can be applied to structural health monitoring as sensor materials. Herein, a method for detecting whether the maximum stress of GFRP laminates under bending exceeds the allowable stress using magnetostrictive fibers is proposed. First, magnetostrictive Fe–Co alloy fibers are embedded in GFRP laminates. Then, four‐point bending tests are conducted. Magnetomechanical coupled modeling based on the composite beam theory is then applied to the experimental results. The effects of the position of Fe–Co fibers on the magnetostrictive behavior and mechanical properties of the prepared composites are evaluated. A concept for monitoring the relationship between the maximum bending stress and the allowable stress of the composite materials is proposed.