Stress fields around defects and fibers in a polymer using carbon nanotubes as sensors

Raman spectroscopy was used to map the stress distribution in the vicinity of discontinuities in a polymer using single-wall nanotubes seeded in the specimen. In the case of a hole in a polymer matrix subjected to unidirectional stress, the experimental stress field compared well with the classical linear elasticity solution. For a single glass fiber embedded in a polymer, the tangential thermal residual stress in the vicinity of the fiber was picked up by Raman spectroscopy and is in satisfactory agreement with a standard two-phase concentric cylinder model. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.