Wireless Power Transmission for Structural Health Monitoring of Fiber-Reinforced-Composite Materials

The design of antenna coils for low frequency and high frequency bands for the integration in fiber reinforced composite materials to achieve wireless power and data transfer has been studied. These systems are to be implemented in structural health monitoring, which use Lamb waves and piezo-wafer-actives Sensors (PWAS). This research focuses on the experimental evaluation of the possible problems in the realization of such system. There are concerns regarding the electrical anisotropy of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), which might render it impossible to transmit energy into the material and data out of it. Experimental demonstrations of coil coupling for the inductive power transfer in such surrounding are presented here, indicating that it is feasible to wirelessly transmit enough power to excite the PWAS to a receiver covered with one layer of the CFRP. The quality of such transmission will vary depending on layer geometry, frequency used, and range of transmission desired.