The use of vertically aligned carbon nanotubes grown on SiC for in situ sensing of elastic and plastic deformation in electrically percolative epoxy composites

Vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized on SiC microplates by a chemical vapor deposition process. The CNT–SiC hybrids were dispersed in epoxy matrix to serve as in situ strain sensors. In elastic region of the composite, electrical resistance monotonically increased with strain then started to decrease when it entered into plastic region. This unique behavior of the resistance change can be applied to identify the elastic and plastic deformation in the composite, which was usually failed with traditional sensors of randomly oriented CNTs.