TY - GEN

T1 - Validating 3D photonic crystals for structural health monitoring

AU - Piccolo, Valentina

AU - Chiappini, Andrea

AU - Vaccari, Alessandro

AU - Lesina, Antonio Calà

AU - Ferrari, Maurizio

AU - Deseri, Luca

AU - Zonta, Daniele

PY - 2017

Y1 - 2017

N2 - A photonic crystal (PhC) is a periodic structure with nanometric periodicity comparable with the wavelength of light, having a photonic band gap in the visible range: in practice, it reflects selectively only a band of the incident light, thus appearing to the observer of a determinate color. In this contribution, we propose to use photonic crystals as a colorimetric sensitive material for Structural Heath Monitoring. The idea is based on the observation that any distortion in the crystal structure produces a change in the reflected light bandwidth, resulting in turn in a change in its apparent color, visible to naked eyes. In a near future, we will be able to speed a photonic sensitive material on the surface of a structure in the form of a thin paint layer, and directly measure any variation in the strain field by simply observing change in color. To demonstrate this concept, we first we introduce the basic formulation that controls the photo-mechanical behavior of a 3D photonic structures. Next, we demonstrate the feasibility of the fabrication of a PhC made of sub-micrometric polystyrene colloidal spheres in a PDMS matrix on a rubber substrate. Through laboratory experiments, we show that the photonic properties of the crystal change with substrate elongation according to theoretical prediction. Lastly, we introduce a Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) analysis method to simulate the opto-mechanical response of a generic photonic crystal design, through direct integration Maxwell's equations, and validated the method compering the numerical results to the experimental data.

AB - A photonic crystal (PhC) is a periodic structure with nanometric periodicity comparable with the wavelength of light, having a photonic band gap in the visible range: in practice, it reflects selectively only a band of the incident light, thus appearing to the observer of a determinate color. In this contribution, we propose to use photonic crystals as a colorimetric sensitive material for Structural Heath Monitoring. The idea is based on the observation that any distortion in the crystal structure produces a change in the reflected light bandwidth, resulting in turn in a change in its apparent color, visible to naked eyes. In a near future, we will be able to speed a photonic sensitive material on the surface of a structure in the form of a thin paint layer, and directly measure any variation in the strain field by simply observing change in color. To demonstrate this concept, we first we introduce the basic formulation that controls the photo-mechanical behavior of a 3D photonic structures. Next, we demonstrate the feasibility of the fabrication of a PhC made of sub-micrometric polystyrene colloidal spheres in a PDMS matrix on a rubber substrate. Through laboratory experiments, we show that the photonic properties of the crystal change with substrate elongation according to theoretical prediction. Lastly, we introduce a Finite Difference Time Domain (FDTD) analysis method to simulate the opto-mechanical response of a generic photonic crystal design, through direct integration Maxwell's equations, and validated the method compering the numerical results to the experimental data.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85032457502&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.12783/shm2017/14013

DO - 10.12783/shm2017/14013

M3 - Conference contribution

AN - SCOPUS:85032457502

SP - 1405

EP - 1412

BT - Structural Health Monitoring 2017

A2 - Chang, Fu-Kuo

A2 - Kopsaftopoulos, Fotis

T2 - 11th International Workshop on Structural Health Monitoring 2017: Real-Time Material State Awareness and Data-Driven Safety Assurance, IWSHM 2017

Y2 - 12 September 2017 through 14 September 2017

ER -