CRack Arrest and Self-Healing in COMPosite Structures (CRASHCOMPS)

尽管复合材料现在得到了广泛的应用，但设计师在安全关键应用中一直保持沉默，主要是因为它们对缺陷很敏感。由于相对较小的损伤可能会显著降低性能，因此“无增长”方法(即缺陷造成的损伤传播构成故障)现在是复合材料行业的思维定势。这导致部件过于笨重，创新设计受到束缚，在使用过程中需要频繁检查。然而，研究界在理解损伤模式和发展稳健失效模型方面已经取得了相当大的进展。复合材料技术的阶段性变化可以通过采用一种可以容忍某些损伤增长的理念来实现(即，要具有“损伤容忍度”或“故障保护”)；这将提供相当大的重量和成本节约，并为设计者提供更大的自由来制定新的设计。此外，在许多应用中，部件预计可以承受显著的损伤增长，但仍然适合使用；例如，对运输车辆的碰撞损坏。在这样的应用中，当结构承受重大载荷时，会引入严重的损伤，随后极有可能出现裂纹扩展；不能使用无扩展准则，必须容忍损伤扩展。实现这一目标的一种有效方法是采用止裂和自修复复合材料结构(CRASHCOMPS)。独一无二的是，为了实现这种能力，复合材料提供了“定制”内部架构、混合和引入新功能的自由。

Although composites are now widely utilised there has been a reticence from designers in using them in safety critical applications, principally because of their sensitivity to defects. Since relatively minor damage can significantly reduce performance, the 'no growth' approach (i.e. damage propagation from a defect constitutes failure) is now the mindset of the composites industry. This has led to excessively heavy components, shackling of innovative design, and a need for frequent inspection during service. However, the research community has made considerable steps in understanding damage modes and the development of robust failure models. A step change in composites technology could be achieved by adopting a philosophy in which some damage growth can be tolerated (i.e. be 'damage tolerant' or 'fail-safe); this would provide considerable weight and cost savings and offer designers greater freedom to formulate new designs. Furthermore, there are numerous applications in which a component is expected to tolerate significant damage growth yet still be fit for service; for example, collision damage to a transport vehicle. In such an application, severe damage is introduced whilst the structure is under significant load, and subsequently crack growth is highly likely; a no-growth criterion cannot be used, and damage propagation must be tolerated. An effective approach to achieve this is by employing CRack Arrest and Self-Healing COMPosite Structures (CRASHCOMPS). Uniquely, composites offer the freedom to 'tailor' internal architecture, hybridise and introduce novel features in order to achieve such a capability.