NOVEL MANUFACTURING METHODS FOR THE INCLUSION OF SELF-HEALING AGENTS FOR AEROSPACE AND AUTOMOTIVE COMPOSITE MATERIALS AND THEIR PROPERTIES

Novel manufacturing methods for the inclusion of Self-healing agents for aerospace and automotive composite materials and their properties In nature, all organism can repair/heal themselves to some degree. This can be as extreme as re-growing lost limbs by some species of starfish to the scabbing and sealing of superficial scratches to the epidermis of humans. These are examples of autonomic self-healing. This is in contrast to modern man-made materials like composites and plastics, which once damaged they need fixing or replacing from an external source (e.g. welding in metals, patches on composite structures). These are an example of external healing. Building on past research and recent advances in autonomic self-healing. This project aims to use previous research on Diels-Alder (DA) based covalent adaptable networks (CANs) to assess their suitability and processability as a prepreg to make commercially available systems such as glass laminate aluminium reinforced epoxy (GLARE) with self-healing capabilities through the reversible covalent bonds that could provide a circular economy for composites. Characterisation and detection techniques of both the prepreg and the composite by (FTIR, NIR, Raman and ultrasound) to see DA and reverse Diels-Alder (rDA) products and the effect that damage has on the structure. DMA/TMA studies to determine the effects of the different fibres and curing temperatures on the DA reaction has on the mechanical properties of the composite including. Continued research to use rheological studies on the prepreg to characterise the self-healing efficiencies alongside the use of more traditional tensile/compression testing to determine the self-healing efficiencies. Alongside research into effects of curing and post-curing regimes upon self-healing efficiencies.