Investigations on toughening and self‐healing performance of plain woven composites with mendable polymer stitches

Abstract This paper investigates toughening and self‐healing properties of plain woven composite structure with poly[ethylene‐co‐methacrylic acid] (EMAA) stitches. Firstly, the cantilever beam specimens with different stitched spacing were performed to determine inter‐laminar fracture toughness. Subsequently, the finite element models of EMAA stitched cantilever beam was established to predict the toughening effects based on nonlinear spring and cohesive zone model (CZM). The force‐displacement responds of experimental and simulation results show excellent correlation. Finally, the toughening and healing mechanism of the stitched plain woven structure were explored. Compared with the original specimen, the EMAA stitched structure shows an excellent toughening ability. After heating, the damaged structure was healed through pressure deliver mechanism to restore the interlaminar fracture toughness of the composite. Highlights Thermoplastic EMAA filaments with self‐healing properties were sewn into the woven composite. The EMAA stitched woven composite structure exhibits excellent interlaminar toughening and healing properties. Finite element model combined non‐linear spring and CZM was established to predict the toughening effects. The toughening and self‐healing mechanisms of EMAA stitched plain woven structure were revealed in detail.