PCK Engineering Wonders

A New Sensor That Can Measure Structural Stresses and Heal Itself When Broken

North Carolina State University researchers have developed a sensor that can measure strain in structural materials and is capable of healing itself.

Engineers use sensors to measure the strain or forces exerted on materials that are used to build everything from aeroplanes to civil infrastructure.

A flaw in such a sensor is that is that they can break under stress. This means that the sensor can no longer provide information to users. Now they have invented a sensor that can automatically repair itself.

The sensor can stretch and compress along with the material it monitors. An infrared light wave runs through the sensor and detects these changes in length, which will tell how much strain the material is undergoing.