I-Corps: Development of Self-healing, Fiber-reinforced Composites

I-Corps：开发自修复纤维增强复合材料

• 批准号: 2330696
• 负责人: Jason Patrick
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-06-01 至 2024-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2330696&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Development; Self; healing; Fiber

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project is the development of self-healing fiber-reinforced composites (FRC). The proposed technology may be used to autonomously repair delamination damage during service, thereby enhancing the durability and longevity of modern structures. Globally, FRC represent one of the largest and fastest growing sectors of advanced materials technology. This growth stems from the numerous high-performance applications for FRC in a broad range of industries that include aerospace, defense, green energy, automotive, marine, infrastructure and electronics. Many of the composite structures used in the highest value applications are multi-layer laminates that are exposed to repeated stresses over multiple years (up to 30) of service. The proposed self-healing composite is specifically aimed at preventing premature failure in these laminated composite structures and extending service life. In addition, self-healing FRC also provide a more sustainable pathway that prolongs service life and enhances resilience and durability, making such materials particularly attractive in composite industries where maintenance and replacement and associated downtime are costly. Industries such as Aerospace also may benefit from enhanced safety, where end-users have reported issues with delamination-susceptible parts including rotorcraft blades and other components featuring ply-drops and fastener holes where stress concentrations arise.This I-Corps project is based on the development of a self-healing fiber-reinforced composites (FRC) platform that achieves in situ self-healing via thermal re-mending. The proposed approach relies on mendable thermoplastic (TP) that is 3D-printed directly onto woven fiber reinforcement and co-laminated with carbon-based resistive heaters. The patterned TP exhibits high melt-flow and self-pressurization for confined micro-crack delivery at temperatures below the glass-transition of the composite thermoset matrix. Rapid (minutes-scale) in situ thermal re-mending is accomplished via resistive heating. Printing TP directly on the reinforcement increases interfacial bonding, resulting in a cohesive failure through the thermoplastic interphase. Test results show a four-fold increase in mode-I fracture toughness over a plain composite, and a consistent self-healing performance (up to 100%) via dynamic re-bonding for sustained cycle counts (100+). The prolonged recovery made possible via this proposed in situ thermal re-mending strategy represents an order of magnitude leap in self-healing repeatability compared to prior technologies. In addition, the composite augmentations for self-healing preserve mechanical properties and are compatible with existing manufacturing processes, both of which are critical for eventual commercialization.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个I-Corps项目更广泛的影响/商业潜力是自愈合纤维增强复合材料（FRC）的开发。 所提出的技术可用于在使用过程中自主修复分层损伤，从而提高现代结构的耐久性和寿命。在全球范围内，FRC是先进材料技术中规模最大、增长最快的行业之一。这一增长源于FRC在航空航天、国防、绿色能源、汽车、船舶、基础设施和电子等广泛行业中的众多高性能应用。 在最高价值的应用中使用的许多复合材料结构是多层层压板，其在多年（高达30年）的使用中暴露于重复应力。 所提出的自修复复合材料特别旨在防止这些层压复合材料结构的过早失效并延长使用寿命。此外，自修复FRC还提供了一种更可持续的途径，延长使用寿命并增强弹性和耐用性，使此类材料在维护和更换以及相关停机时间成本高昂的复合材料行业中特别有吸引力。 航空航天等行业也可能从增强的安全性中受益，最终用户报告了易分层部件的问题，包括旋翼机叶片和其他具有应力集中的紧固件孔和紧固件孔的部件。I-Corps的这个项目基于自修复纤维增强复合材料（FRC）平台的开发，该平台通过热修复实现原位自修复。所提出的方法依赖于可修补的热塑性塑料（TP），该热塑性塑料直接3D打印到编织纤维增强材料上，并与碳基电阻加热器共同层压。图案化的TP表现出高熔体流动和自加压，用于在低于复合热固性基质的玻璃化转变温度下的受限微裂纹递送。通过电阻加热实现快速（分钟级）原位热修补。将TP直接印刷在增强材料上增加了界面结合，导致通过热塑性界面的内聚破坏。测试结果表明，与普通复合材料相比，I型断裂韧性增加了四倍，并且通过持续循环次数（100+）的动态重新粘合，具有一致的自修复性能（高达100%）。与现有技术相比，通过这种提出的原位热修复策略实现的延长恢复代表了自修复可重复性的数量级飞跃。此外，用于自我修复的复合材料增强材料保持了机械性能，并与现有的制造工艺兼容，这两点对于最终的商业化至关重要。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。