Effect of fiber bridging in composites healing

Abstract

Extrinsic non-autonomic self-healing of composite material is elucidated in two cases of crack, one of them has bridging phenomena which has been created during sample formation and the other has normal crack without bridging. Experiments for mode I composite fracture failure was carried out on a double cantilever beam (DCB) specimen. An open wooden mould technique was used to manufacture the test specimen which was made of unidirectional E-glass fiber and polyester resin. In both cases, healing required some form of manual intervention, with the healing agent being manually catalysed and then injected into the delamination. Before and after healing, an experimental study of the function of fibre bridging was conducted. Before and after the healing process, samples with and without bridging were compared. The average healing efficiency of non-bridging specimens is 101%, with a maximum healing efficiency of 113.5%, while the average healing efficiency of bridging specimens is 112.4%, with a maximum healing efficiency of 132.6%. The results show the great role of crossing fiber in bridging cases, which increases the efficiency of crack healing, so the transcendence of bridging healing is obvious.

Keywords

• Bridging
• Healing
• Glass fiber
• Composites
• Delamination
• Fracture toughness