A versatile fiber coating process for efficient fabrication of multifunctional composites

The objective of this research is to demonstrate the versatility of a dip coating process for the efficient integration of piezoelectric barium titanate (BaTiO₃) microparticles on a wide variety of fibers to design passive self-sensing composites. The microparticles were deposited on glass, aramid, and basalt fiber weaves through the proposed dip coating technique. A computational framework is established to predict the deposition thickness on the fiber surfaces from the given microparticle concentration, size, coating velocity, and coating fluid viscosity. The deposition quality assessment was performed through scanning electron microscope imaging and subsequent image analysis. BaTiO₃-coated fibers were directly used in composite preparation. After fabrication, the BaTiO₃-enhanced composites were subjected to high-voltage poling. Finally, their passive self-sensing properties were characterized through experimental studies. The results show the adaptability of the proposed coating process to integrate BaTiO₃ microparticles within different types of fiber-reinforced composites enabling passive self-sensing to attain subsurface damage characterization.