Self Healing Composite Materials

Composite materials are used in a wide range of applications in aerospace, marine, automotive, defense and sports markets. Due to constant loading conditions these materials are susceptible to damage. Damage to composite materials is not always visible to the naked eye. If the damage is at microscopic level, it can pose a severe threat to the structural integrity of the structure and hence there is need of smart materials which are capable of repairing these damages without human interventions. Such types of composites materials which are capable of repairing damage within the matrix system by sensing crack propagation are called as self healing composite materials. In our report, solid state self healing has been demonstrated that is capable of self-healing the crack within the structure upon heating, without the addition or interventions of other materials.