Structural material with piezoelectric material particles

Abstract

A load-bearing structural member has a continuous structural material with piezoelectric material particles mixed in throughout. The structural material may be any of a variety of suitable materials, such as polymer materials, composite materials, ceramic materials, or concrete. The piezoelectric material particles may be used for evaluating the soundness of the structural member, such as in quality control or structural health monitoring processes. The structural member may include one or more conductive pickups used for receiving signals from the structural member. The signals may be induced by introducing ultrasonic signals or vibrational resonance signals into the structural member. The response from such induced signals may be used for quality control purposes or structural health monitoring. Piezomagnetic, electro-strictive, or magneto-strictive material particles may also be spread throughout the structural material, to amplify and otherwise enhance the signals from the piezoelectric material particles.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.