Self-healing of spread carbon fiber/epoxy laminates and effect of matrix modification on the strength recovery

Abstract

The study examines the effect of matrix modification on the mechanical property of spread carbon fiber(SCF)/epoxy(EP) laminates encompassing self-healing. Healing is accomplished by incorporating a microencapsulated healing agent and catalyst. Self-healing is demonstrated on short beam shear specimens and the healing efficiency was evaluated by the strain energies of virgin and healed specimens. The damaged area of specimens was also examined by an optical microscope. The result showed that the healing efficiency of self-healing SCF/EP/0.05wt%CNF laminates increased compared to that of self-healing SCF/EP laminates. The apparent interlaminar shear strength was insensitive to CNF added. The SCF/EP laminates showed the maximum apparent interlaminar shear strength containing 5wt% SY-OPP, and the maximum healing efficiency containing 10wt% SY-OPP. In the case of 5, 10 and 15wt% SY-OPP content, the apparent interlaminar shear strength decreased with increasing SY-OPP content.