New materials for percolation-based sensors applicable and resistant in an industrial environment.

To ensure that structural components in industrial structures are functional at the required level of reliability and safety, efficient maintenance operations are required. With a network of sensors permanently monitoring the reliability of structures, damage can be detected much earlier, increasing safety and saving maintenance resources. This doctoral project, based on recent successful industry feasibility studies on water leak detection in aircraft, chemical plants and concrete structures, will focus on the exploration of new industrial applications. The sensors used in the past are limited by physical factors and research into better materials is needed to increase the potential market. The detection principle discussed is based on the percolation effect in materials and new material combinations are being investigated to increase applicability at higher temperatures and in difficult conditions to use. The main objective is to use advanced epoxy mixtures to find a solution for the required technical boundary conditions.