In addition to the potential applications of carbon nanotube-polymer nanocomposites for providing increased matrix stiffness, thermal conductivity and electrical conductivity in structural carbon fiber composites, nanocomposites have the potential to provide vehicle critical information through structural health monitoring. This ability to sense the onset of damage stems both from the inherent electro-mechanical coupling of nanotubes and from changes in the electrical properties of nanocomposites brought about by progressive failure associated with the formation of microcracks. The present research is focused on the latter through the development of multiscale damage evolution models for capturing the progressive failure of nanocomposites under mechanical loading, and concurrently predicting the associated perturbations in the non-mechanical properties necessary to sense damage using a multiscale homogenization framework.
