Characterization of Impact Load Detection of Polymer Encapsulated Mechano-luminescing Particles as a Function of Temperature

Mechano-luminescing materials, typically in the powder form, have been the corner stone of non-destructive remote testing techniques employed for material interrogation in a variety of industries. While the exact mechanism behind tribo-luminescing/mechano-luminescing of some crystals is not fully understood, these organic and inorganic crystals have been incorporated in several different applications intended for structural health monitoring of other monolithic materials that are typically functioning under extreme conditions. Temperature-dependent mechano-luminescence is an area that has not been adequately explored and will be discussed in the work presented here. Furthermore, given that polymer composites may see a change in their modulus of elasticity at different temperatures, we will also probe the effect of temperature-induced change in elasticity, on the load detection performance of mechano-luminescing powders, as a function of placement within the polymer matrix, concentration, and composition.