Sensor-Enabled Geosynthetics: Use of Conducting Carbon Networks as Geosynthetic Sensors
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VIEW THE REPLYPublication: Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135, Issue 7
Abstract
A novel technique is developed based on the piezoresistivity of electrically filled polymers to measure the tensile strain in modified geosynthetics without the need for conventional instrumentation (e.g., strain gauges). This paper reports the development of the technique and the results obtained on high-density polyethylene and polypropylene (PP) geogrid specimens filled with carbon black and carbon nanotubes (NTs). It was found that except for NT-filled PP specimens all other composites exhibited significant strain sensitivity in their conductivity. The proof-of-concept study reported in this paper has two important features: (1) strain sensitivity of electrical conductivity was demonstrated in polyolefins used to manufacture geosynthetics; and (2) this strain sensitivity was obtained and demonstrated over the range of strain values that are important in geosynthetic engineering applications.
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Acknowledgments
The writers wish to acknowledge the cross-disciplinary seed funding awarded by the College of Engineering at the University of Oklahoma to support the research described in this paper. Generous donations of polymers by Exxon-Mobil Chemical (Houston) and masterbatches by Hyperion Catalysis (Cambridge, Mass.) and RTP Company (Winona, Minn.) are acknowledged. The assistance of Dr. Preston Larson at the Samuel Roberts Noble Electron Microscopy Laboratory (SRNEML) of the University of Oklahoma in producing scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images and that of Mr. Israel J. Chavez Sumarriva in preparing the SEM samples are gratefully acknowledged.
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Published In
Journal of Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering
Volume 135 • Issue 7 • July 2009
Pages: 863 - 874
Copyright
© 2009 ASCE.
History
Received: Jan 23, 2008
Accepted: Nov 9, 2008
Published online: Jun 15, 2009
Published in print: Jul 2009
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