HIPOCRATES - SELF-HEALING POLYMERS FOR CONCEPTS ON SELF-REPAIRED AERONAUTICAL COMPOSITES
Overview
Background & policy context:
A composite aero-structure with self-repair capabilities will offer durability, extend its service life and amend maintenance protocols, leading to lower aircraft operational costs. Despite extensive research activities in the area of self-healing resins applied to composite materials, the research for aeronautical applications is currently very limited.
Objectives:
The main objective of HIPOCRATES is the development of self-repair composite materials by transforming widely used resins within aeronautical industry to self-healing materials, facilitating this way the subsequent certification and related costs. Taking into account the current technological maturity of self-repair, secondary structural composites will be targeted.
Methodology:
The transformation will be achieved through the epoxy enrichment with appropriate chemical agents, following three main strategies:
- The nano-encapsulation strategy that involves incorporation of nano-encapsulated healing agents and a dispersed catalyst within a polymer matrix;
- The reversible polymers strategy where remediable polymer matrices follow the Diels-Alder chemical reaction rendering damage repairable through triggered reversible cross-linking;
- A combination of strategy a) and b) that will be tried for the first time.
For all strategies the current progress of nano-technology will be utilised towards either better facilitation of the self-healing process (e.g. nano-carriers), enhancement of the self-healing performance, or integration of other functionalities (e.g. monitoring of the self-healing performance, activation of DA reaction). Impact, fracture and fatigue mechanical tests are envisioned to assess the self-healing efficiency. Manufacturing challenges that arise from incorporating such self-healing thermosetting systems into fibrous composites (pre-preg, infusion/RTM) will be closely investigated at the early stages of development to ensure an effective transfer of the desired properties to the large scale as required by the industry.
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