Optical Spectra of Carbon Nanotubes for Stress Measurements of Advanced Aerospace Structures

Abstract

The potential of carbon nanotubes being utilized for structural applications presents a need to develop non-invasive measurement capabilities for tailoring of reinforcements and to establish the structural integrity of such materials. This research is focused on developing relationships between mechanical properties and the optical spectra of single-walled carbon nanotubes. Laser excitation wavelengths were varied and effects on the G bands of the Raman spectra are presented here. Results of an in-situ thermal experiment on bulk carbon nanotube samples show the temperature dependency of these bands, which are commonly used to quantify the elastic modulus for CNT composites. Copyright © 2010 by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Inc