Raman-Active Nanostructured Materials for Use as Novel Stress-Sensitive Polymeric Coatings

Abstract

ABSTRACTNanocomposites and nanostructured polymers with unique opto-mechanical properties have been developed as smart coatings for use in a novel, high resolution, and non-contact strain-measuring application. Remote polarized Raman spectroscopy has been used to monitor optical strain sensitivity of deformed coatings (deformation micromechanics), and determine local strains on the micron scale directly from stress/strain induced Raman band shifts.The research is aimed at providing a novel high-resolution non-contact technique for the determination of surface stresses and strains in a wide variety of engineering components used in both laboratory and in-the-field (external) applications.