SBIR-STTR Award

Composites are used in the F/A 18 which has 50% of its skin in composite material. Other planes with high composite usage are the F-18, the B-1B bomber, F-14A, F-a6 and Navy V-22. The use of composites in airplane components provides significant weight reduction (40%) over metals. Reliability, in an all-composite airplane component, relates to the ability to eliminate damage before it can lead to catastrophic failure. The proposed self-healing technology will successfully repair microcracks, as well as other damages. The only reliable fail-safe mode for response of composite components to damage in airplane composites is to repair instantaneously, where and when damage occurs, before it progresses. The performance improvement of these combined technologies, of self-repairing composite airplane components, will be significant. Natural Process Design will partner with GMI Composites, known for their work on composite components for airplane use, to demonstrate self-repair in an airplane composite components or in the wing area.

Benefits:
The use of composite technology with the integration of self healing methods has already been proposed and accepted as a viable premise for airplane component development. It will result in the potential incorporation of these technologies for the ground support systems, for the airborne transportation systems and also for some of the current airborne systems. The overall weight reduction is the primary technology advantage for use of composite systems. The obvious benefits of self-repairing technology at the subsystem component level will be in the fail-safe confidence of using self repairing composites to eliminate the potential for microcracking, impact and handling damage and later failures. Also the payoff in the use of composite technology and self-healing methods for overall system use is the potential for self-repairing composite wing sections. The commercial uses will be in commercial airplanes wherever composites are used. Industries with severe reliability requirements, such as transportation, would benefit from self-repairing technology.

Keywords:
airplane, self repair, composite, damage, release, heal, polymer, crack

In self-repairing composites, usually liquid chemicals are contained inside a fiber or bead vessel that is embedded inside the polymer composite matrix or laminate. Damage such as an impact or fatigue microcracking causes the breaking of the vessel, release of internal chemicals into the damage site where they wet the sides of the damage site, react together or with the matrix resin and close or fill the damage thus repairing the composite. This very accurate repair, which occurs whenever and wherever needed, would enable the self-repair of thermoset composite laminates such as airplanes components. Even though the system from Phase I is shown to be feasible, there are areas to refine in system design in order to make a prototype in SBIR Phase II. The drive to a more commercializable product will include more complex and slightly larger specimens made by autoclave and/or vartm which are subjected to simulated conditions of the end use.

Keywords:
Airplane, Self-Repair, Composites, Laminates, Adhe