The Effect of Vascular Self-Healing Orientation on Healing Efficiency of Epoxy/Glass Fiber Composite

In this study, the effect of vascular self-healing orientation on tensile strength and healing efficiency of epoxy-glass composite has been experimentally studied. Hollow glass fiber (HGF) of 450±10 μm diameter and 50%-55% hollowness was produced by using an extruder. Following, the HGFs were filled with healing components, and subsequently employed as vascular healing system in composite laminate. The orientations of HGFs were selected at three levels of 0, 45 and 90°. The distance of HGFs was kept at 200 μm. The virgin, damaged and healed specimens were characterized in term of tensile behavior and subsequently the healing efficiency was studied. The results of tensile tests indicated that the presence of blank HGFs in composite lowered the tensile strength as high as 17, 14 and 21% for HGFs angles of 0, 45 and 90°, respectively. As a damage, a strain of 1.2% was initiated in the tensile specimen and afterward the self-healing process was accomplished at temperature of 70 ˚C for a time period of 48 hours. Subsequently, the healing efficiency was measured by tensile testing. The results indicated that the best orientation of the filled HGFs was 45°, where the healing efficiency was equal to 42%. The morphology of fractured HGFs and healed zones was studied by employing scanning electron microscopy.