A novel self-healing composite made of thermally reversible polymer and shape memory alloy reinforcement

A novel self-healing polymer composite made of the thermally reversible polymer matrix and shape memory alloy reinforcement is introduced. The healing system is designed in such a way that by heating the structure, activation of shape recovery in shape memory alloy and chemical reversible reactions in polymer occur simultaneously. In the present healing method, the required crack closure force is provided by activating the embedded shape memory alloy wires in the polymer. Both superelastic and shape memory effects of shape memory alloy are considered on the fracture behavior of composites by investigating the passive and active reinforcement methods, respectively. Double cleavage drilled compression tests are utilized in order to study the fracture behavior and healing efficiency of composites. In the case of passive reinforcement, embedding 2% prestrained shape memory alloy wires caused 15% enhancement in the fracture toughness of composites. In this prestrain level, results of the micromechanical model are in good agreement with experiments. Promising results are also obtained for healing efficiency of composites in the case of active reinforcement. The average healing efficiency of 92% is achieved for shape memory alloy-reinforced thermally reversible epoxy composites. The excellent healing performance, without the necessity of external force and pressure, makes the present healing method as an ideal candidate for utilizing self-healing composite structures.