Self-healing of fatigue damage in cross-ply glass/epoxy laminates

Sang Yup Kim, Nancy R. Sottos, Scott R. White

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Self-healing of fatigue damage is reported in laminated composites fabricated from unidirectional glass/epoxy prepreg with embedded microcapsules. Microcapsules (ca. 2.5 μm) containing a mixture of ethyl phenylacetate (EPA) solvent and diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) epoxy are seamlessly incorporated into cross-ply [(0/90 3 ) 4 /0] T laminated composites. Specimens subjected to tension-tension fatigue testing followed by a 24 h rest period at ambient conditions recover 52% of the initial Young's modulus as a result of self-healing. Fluorescent labeling of microcapsules and matrix resin combined with confocal fluorescent imaging reveals that the healing agents wick into transverse fatigue cracks, ultimately rebonding the crack faces after self-healing. Furthermore, self-healing composite laminates exhibit a higher resistance to crack growth as a result of the presence of the embedded microcapsules. The fatigue behavior of laminated self-healing composites demonstrates the potential for extended fatigue life of fiber-reinforced polymer composites for structural applications.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)122-127
Number of pages6
JournalComposites Science and Technology
Volume175
DOIs
StatePublished - May 3 2019

Keywords

  • A
  • B
  • C
  • Elastic properties
  • Fatigue
  • Functional composites
  • PMCs
  • Transverse cracking

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Ceramics and Composites
  • General Engineering

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