Deformation resistance effect of PAN-based carbon fibers

The deformation resistance effect of polyacrylonitrile (PAN)-based carbon fibers was investigated, and the variatipn law of electrical resistivity under tensile stress was analyzed. The results show that the gauge factor (fractional change in resistance per unit strain) of PAN-based carbon fibers is 1.38, which is lower than that of the commonly-used resistance strain gauge. These may due to that the electrical resistivity of carbon fibers decreases under tensile stress. In addition when the carbon fibers are stretched, the change of its resistance is caused by fiber physical dimension and the change of electric resistivity, and mainly caused by the change of physical dimension. The mechanical properties of carbon fiber monofilament were also measured. Funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 10672128 and 50878170)