Designing and implementation of triboluminescent materials for real-time load monitoring

Publication date: 5 September 2018
Source:Materials & Design, Volume 153
Author(s): Md Abu S. Shohag, Scott A. Tran, Taniwa Ndebele, Nirmal Adhikari, Okenwa I. Okoli
Dynamic and real-time load monitoring in large civil structures such as wind turbine blades is important for extended operational life. In this study, a novel load monitoring sensor called C-shaped ITOFPress is proposed, which consists of an ITOF sensor with micro-exciters integrated into a polymer matrix. Two triboluminescent (TL) materials: ZnS:Mn and ZnS:Cu are utilized to fabricate samples. Transmission Electron Microscopy and X-ray Diffraction are used to characterize the TL materials. Sensors were subjected to repeated loading and generated distinct TL emission corresponding to each loading cycle. TL intensity increases with the increase of loading rate and increases exponentially with an applied load. The plot of logarithmic TL intensity with applied load follows linear relationship, which is desirable. At the loading rate of 50 mm s⁻¹ and 100 N load, sensor containing ZnS:Mn displays TL intensity of 2.52 arbitrary units, which is twice than ZnS:Cu. Therefore, ZnS:Mn sensor demonstrates comparatively higher TL intensity than ZnS:Cu. Neither obvious decrease in TL intensity nor any physical damage of the sensor is found after 100 repeated cycles, which demonstrates its potential as a reliable sensor in practical applications. The new C-shaped ITOFPress sensor has the ability to monitor dynamic applied loads consistently over cycles.

Graphical abstract

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