Abstract
Microcapsule-based carbon fiber reinforced composites were manufactured by wet layup, in order to assess their mechanical properties and determine their healing efficiency. Microcapsules at 10%wt. containing bisphenol-A epoxy, encapsulated in a urea formaldehyde (UF) shell, were employed with Scandium (III) Triflate (Sc (OTf)3) as the catalyst. The investigation was deployed with two main directions. The first monitored changes to the mechanical performance due to the presence of the healing agent within the composite. More precisely, a minor decrease in interlaminar fracture toughness (GIIC) (−14%), flexural strength (−12%) and modulus (−4%) compared to the reference material was reported. The second direction evaluated the healing efficiency. The experimental results showed significant recovery in fracture toughness up to 84% after the healing process, while flexural strength and modulus healing rates reached up to 14% and 23%, respectively. The Acoustic Emission technique was used to support the experimental results by the onsite monitoring.
Highlights
Composite materials have been a topic of intense research since their introduction in a variety of engineering fields
The aim of the current study is to provide new insights in the mechanical and acoustical performance of self-healing fiber reinforced composites integrated with a low content of urea formaldehyde (UF) capsules as the self-healing carrier
It is observed that the capsules integration led to a 14% decrease in the GIIC compared to the reference material
Summary
Composite materials have been a topic of intense research since their introduction in a variety of engineering fields. The damage accumulation degrades the mechanical performance of the material and leads often to catastrophic failure [1]. In light of these issues, scientists inspired from biological systems have designed structural materials with a recovery mechanism triggered by the damage itself. The self-healing functionality can be addressed to a composite material either by incorporating capsules within the polymeric matrix that contains the active healing agent [2], or alternatively by creating vascules within its structure that deliver the healing agent to the damaged site [3,4], or by employing an intrinsic self-healing polymer as the matrix material [5]. Different integration techniques have been developed according to the selected self-healing system [6]
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