The development of methods for self-healing of CFRP using optical fibers

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24656084
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Materials/Mechanics of materials
• Research Institution: Shinshu University
• Principal Investigator: BAO Limin 信州大学, 学術研究院繊維学系, 教授 (10262700)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): NATUKI Tosiaki 信州大学, 学術研究院繊維学系, 准教授 (10432171) ; YIYITUKA Kojirou 州大学, 学術研究院繊維学系, 准教授 (10453672)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 自己修復 / スマート材料 / FRP

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Carbon Fiber Reinforced Plastic (CFRP), a composite material, is used in a wide range of fields because of its excellent specific strength and specific rigidity. Much CFRP is molded into laminated plates. CFRP is strong in each layer, particularly in the fiber direction; however, it is slightly weaker between layers and, therefore, it will experience degradation over time or develop delamination and cracks when it receives any external shock. To resolve this problem, we proposed a self-healing system for CFRP using optical fibers and UV-curable resin. In this study, self-healing CFRP samples were prepared and the effectiveness of repairing the inter-laminar fractures was confirmed by using optical fibers and UV-curable resin. In addition, we have also clarified the factors that affect the repair rate by determining the bonding strength of epoxy resin and UV-curable resin. From the experiment results, we were able to confirm the feasibility of the proposed self-healing system.

Free Research Field

複合材料工学