108 Fabrication of an active material based on continuous fiber/metal composite

Abstract

This paper describes development of a FRM based smart actuator embedded with optical fiber. In this study, continuous SiC fiber reinforced aluminum composite was laminated with unreinforced aluminum plate by the interphase forming/bonding method using copper insert foil. Curvature of the material changed as a function of temperature. It was clarified that the copper concentrated around the SiC fiber which was introduced by the interphase forming/bonding method contributed to the increase of curvature of the actuator. In order to detect its deformation, pre-notched optical fiber was embedded in the actuator and was successfully broken in it to form an optical loss type sensor. Using this sensor, a simple relation between curvature change and change of optical loss was successfully obtained.