Self-healing polymeric materials: A review of recent developments

https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/318/1060.pdf?sequence=1

Retardation and repair of fatigue cracks in a microcapsule toughened epoxy composite – Part I: Manual infiltration

Cracks, microcracks and fracture in polymer structures: Formation, detection, autonomic repair

Current models used to predict the fatigue life of glass fibre-reinforced plastic composites do not accurately consider the effects of load stress ratios and load frequencies. These models usually require significant amount of experimental data to establish a set of characteristic fatigue curves for a given composite. This paper proposes a fatigue model for glass fibre-reinforced plastic composites that includes the non-linear effect of stress ratio and load frequency on the fatigue life. The model can be used to predict the fatigue behavior of a composite material using a well-defined minimum number of tests. Fatigue data from the literature and selected research laboratories were used to test the model. Predictions were found to be in good agreement with all experimental data adequately accounting for the influence of test frequency and stress ratio on the fatigue life of composites.

An empirical model for fatigue behavior prediction of glass fibre-reinforced plastic composites for various stress ratios and test frequencies

Self-healing polymers, based on microencapsulated dicyclopentadiene and Grubbs’ catalyst embedded in the polymer matrix, are capable of responding to propagating fatigue cracks by autonomic processes that lead to higher endurance limits and life extension, or even the complete arrest of the crack growth. The amount of fatigue-life extension depends on the relative magnitude of the mechanical kinetics of crack propagation and the chemical kinetics of healing. As the healing kinetics are accelerated, greater fatigue life extension is achieved. The use of wax-protected, recrystallized Grubbs’ catalyst leads to a fourfold increase in the rate of polymerization of bulk dicyclopentadiene and extends the fatigue life of a polymer specimen over 30 times longer than a comparable non-healing specimen. The fatigue life of polymers under extremely fast fatigue crack growth can be extended through the incorporation of periodic rest periods, effectively training the self-healing polymeric material to achieve higher endurance limits.

/pdf/life-extension-of-self-healing-polymers-with-rapidly-growing-h9nuyx1z2b.pdf

Life extension of self-healing polymers with rapidly growing fatigue cracks

The general nature of fracture in polymers, when subject to alternating loads as distinct from static or steadily increasing loads, is reviewed; and the molecular mechanisms and micromechanics aspects of the fatigue fracture process are discussed. Some attention is given to thermal fatigue, where fracture results primarily from a large specimen temperature rise due to hysteresis heating. However, primary emphasis is devoted to mechanical fatigue, in which fracture is a result of initiation and propagation of a crack, as a result of the periodic nature of the applied load.

G. C. Richardson

Papers

Fatigue of polymers