Ramamurthy Prabhakaran - Virginia Beach VA Osvaldo F. Lopez - Newport News VA
Assignee:
The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration - Washington DC
International Classification:
G01R 2702 G01N 1908
US Classification:
324718
Abstract:
A crack length sensor is fabricated in a rectangular or other geometrical form from a conductive powder impregnated polymer material. The long edges of the sensor are silver painted on both sides and the sensor is then bonded to a test specimen via an adhesive having sufficient thickness to also serve as an insulator. A lead wire is connected to each of the two outwardly facing silver painted edges. The resistance across the sensor changes continuously as a function of the crack length in the specimen and sensor.