Citation: Shimpi, P.; Omastova, M.;
Aniskevich, A.; Zeleniakiene, D. In
Situ Deformation Monitoring of 3D
Woven Composite T-Profile Using
MXene Nanoparticles. Materials 2022,
15, 2730. https://doi.org/10.3390/
ma15082730
Academic Editors: Ki-Hyun Kim and
Deepak Kukkar
Received: 27 February 2022
Accepted: 5 April 2022
Published: 7 April 2022
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Article
In Situ Deformation Monitoring of 3D Woven Composite
T-Profile Using MXene Nanoparticles
Prasad Shimpi
1
, Maria Omastova
2
, Andrey Aniskevich
3
and Daiva Zeleniakiene
1,
*
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Kaunas University of Technology, 51424 Kaunas, Lithuania;
prasad.shimpi@ktu.edu
2
Polymer Institute, Slovak Academy of Sciences, 84541 Bratislava, Slovakia; maria.omastova@savba.sk
3
Institute for Mechanics of Materials, University of Latvia, LV-1004 Riga, Latvia; andrey.aniskevich@pmi.lv
* Correspondence: daiva.zeleniakiene@ktu.lt
Abstract:
The aim of this study was to develop a process-efficient smart three-dimensional (3D)
woven composite T-profile by depositing MXene nanoparticles at the junction for sensing damage
and deformation at the junction. Such smart composites could find application in the online health
monitoring of complex-shaped parts. The composites were manufactured by infusing epoxy resin
in a single-layer fabric T-profile preform, woven in folded form on a dobby shuttle loom using 300
tex glass roving. The chemically etched Ti
3
C
2
T
z
MXene nanoparticles were dispersed in deionised
water and 10 layers were sprayed at the junction of the composite to form a conductive coating.
The MXene-coated composite T-profile specimens were subjected to tensile and fatigue loading to
study the electromechanical response of the MXene coating to applied displacement. The results
showed that the MXene coating was able to sense the sample deformation till ultimate failure of the
composite. The MXene coating was also able to effectively sense the tensile–tensile fatigue loading,
carried out at 2000 cycles and 4000 cycles for a 50 N–0.5 Hz and a 100 N–1 Hz load–frequency
combination, respectively, while being sensitive to the overall deformation of the composite. The
smart complex-shaped composites developed in this work were capable of monitoring their health
under tensile and fatigue loading in real time.
Keywords: 3D woven composite; MXene; mechanical testing; T-profile
1. Introduction
Structural health monitoring (SHM) of fiber-reinforced composites is an important
component of quality evaluation in aerospace, civil, and mechanical engineering structures.
Researchers combine various scientific techniques to develop systems for sensing damage
in the composite structures. These damage detection techniques can be broadly classified
into two major categories, namely destructive and non-destructive testing (NDT). For
small, bulk manufactured, and cheap components, the quality evaluation is carried out by
destroying a sample out of the bulk quantity. However, parts that have complex designs
and are expensive to manufacture are evaluated by NDT. Some of the NDT methods
are ultrasonic [
1
], radiography [
2
], thermographic [
3
], acoustic [
4
], and shearography
testing [
5
], etc. Although suitable for evaluation in a testing lab, these methods cannot
provide real-time data of the damage during actual usage of the component.
To overcome the above-mentioned limitations, an approach of integrating sensor
elements during various stages of composite manufacturing has been developed. Some
of these techniques are integrating metallic wires, optical fibers [
6
,
7
], yarn coated with
conductive dyes [
8
,
9
] etc., in the composite layup or in the fabric preform. However, sensor
integration during the weaving process imparts damage to the sensor element and often
results in improper functioning of the sensor. Placing sensor elements between fabric lamina
during the composite layup induces defects in the final composite. To resolve this problem
Materials 2022, 15, 2730. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma15082730 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/materials
