Study on Damage Repair of Polymer Composites Using Self-Healing Technique

Self-healing Technique을 적용한 폴리머 복합재의 손상 보수 연구

Structural polymer composites are susceptible to damage in the form of cracks, which form deep within the structure where detection is difficult and repair is almost impossible. A recent methodology for the damage repair of polymer composites using the self-healing technique is reported. The polymerization of the healing agent is triggered by contact with an embedded catalyst, being necessary to damage repair of polymer composites. For this purpose, the self-healing concept is introduced and the manufacturing process of microcapsule with the healing agent is briefly described. The polymerization between the healing agent and the catalyst is verified by the use of ESEM and IR spectroscopy. Finally the efficiency of the self-healing technique is investigated by measuring the critical load of TDCB specimen.