Composites can be made self healing
A study just completed by Qinetiq, funded by the European Space Agency has come to the conclusion that it is possible to make composite structures that can repair themselves, but it is not going to be quite as simple as was first thought
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Entitled, “Enabling self healing capabilities – A small step to biomimetic materials”, the study looked at three possible techniques: hollow fibres containing the self healing materials as part of the composite lay-up, microcapsules containing the self healing material added to the matrix, and hollow capillaries added to the composite through the thickness rather than in the plane of the reinforcement material.
The executive summary concludes: “It is believed that the self-healing of composite materials is unlikely to be solved by one method alone and that a combination of self-healing mechanisms will be required to mitigate against all damage events. Damage event types vary, and individual events may be suited to specific self-healing mechanisms: hence any broad spectrum solution needs to incorporate several technologies simultaneously. For example, a microcapsule self-healing mechanism could be combined with hollow fibre self-healing mechanisms to provide both shear, tensile and compression matrix failure repair”.
For more information: http://www.esa.int/SPECIALS/GSP/SEMPXS22VBF_0.html
