In order to demonstrate the feasibility of Active Fiber Composites (AFC) as sensors for detecting damage, a
pretwisted strip made of AFC with symmetric free-edge delamination is considered in this paper. The strain
developed on the top/bottom of the strip is measured to detect and assess delamination. Variational Asymptotic
Method (VAM) is used in the development of a non-classical non-linear cross sectional model of the strip. The
original three dimensional (3D) problem is simplified by the decomposition into two simpler problems: a two-dimensional
(2D) problem, which provides in a compact form the cross-sectional properties using VAM, and a
non-linear one-dimensional (1D) problem along the length of the beam. This procedure gives the non-linear
stiffnesses, which are very sensitive to damage, at any given cross-section of the strip. The developed model is
used to study a special case of cantilevered laminated strip with antisymmetric layup, loaded only by an axial
force at the tip. The charge generated in the AFC lamina is derived in closed form in terms of the 1D strain
measures. It is observed that delamination length and location have a definite influence on the charge developed
in the AFC lamina. Also, sensor voltage output distribution along the length of the beam is obtained using
evenly distributed electrode strip. These data could in turn be used to detect the presence of damage.
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