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Disclaimer — This paper partially fulfills a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at the University
of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering. This paper is a student, not a professional, paper. This paper is based on
publicly available information and may not be provide complete analyses of all relevant data. If this paper is used for any
purpose other than these authors’ partial fulfillment of a writing requirement for first year (freshman) engineering students at
the University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering, the user does so at his or her own risk.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY: THE AEROSPACE APPLICATIONS OF
SELF-HEALING CARBON FIBER WITH EPOXY MATRICES
Zach Reger, zmr2@pitt.edu, Mahboobin 10:00, Stephen Schanes, svs22@pitt.edu, Vidic 2:00
Revised Proposal—Carbon fiber composites have become a
notable engineering material within the past fifty years for
their impressive strength capabilities, low weight, and lack of
reactivity [1]. For these reasons, the space industry has taken
a special look at carbon fiber composites in the interest of
creating materials with a high weight-to-strength ratio, which
is a primary goal in rocket design. More weight needs more
thrust which, in turn, leads to a higher cost to send the rocket
into space. Since many missions can take years and repairs
are both costly and challenging in space, materials with the
ability to self-heal could prove to have a significant impact on
mission and vessel service duration. NASA has recently
patented a new self-healing carbon fiber polymer composite
that could increase the fracture-resistance of the material by
about 120% with a 37% downgrade in tensile strength after
self-healing is completed [2]. It is common for objects in
space to be struck by high-velocity debris, therefore, this new
carbon fiber would play an important role in covering the
outer layers and hinges of space vessels. This self-healing
carbon fiber is created with a matrix of polymer resin inside.
When microfractures form, the polymer blend seeps into the
cracks and solidifies, thus repairing the damage [3].
This new technology has the ability to soon provide us with
more advanced and durable space exploration systems. These
developments will allow aerospace organizations the
opportunity to go deeper into space due to the use of more
resistive materials used on probes and other vessels. In
addition to its aerospace uses, self-healing carbon fiber may
have applications in other fields including transportation and
infrastructure, which will be discussed in the conclusion of
this paper [4]. These applications will provide benefits to a
significant amount of consumers and engineers searching for
more resilient materials alike.
As research continues, the performance of self-healing
carbon fibers will be further compared to standard carbon
fiber composites in the areas of cost and practicality.
Furthermore, these composites will be sent into space for
testing in microgravity [5]. The specific type of self-healing
fibers discussed in this paper, those with an epoxy matrix, will
be compared to two other existing types: vascular [6] and
encapsulated [7]. Further improvements to this technology
will be considered, such as the ability to repair damages
University of Pittsburgh Swanson School of Engineering
Submission date: 2016/01/29
indefinitely through the use of polymer reabsorption, and
decreasing the loss of strength after polymers have repaired
said damages [8]. The paper will finish with ethical and
social concerns with this new technology including the
practicality of recycling carbon fiber polymer blends [9] and
the energy usage involved with recycling [10].
REFERENCES
[1] R. Hedge, A. Dahiya, M. Kamath. (2004). “Carbon
Fibers.” University of Tennessee Knoxville. (Online Article).
http://www.engr.utk.edu/mse/Textiles/CARBON%20FIBER
S.htm
[2] T. Yang, Y. Du, Z. Li, et al. (2014). Polymers and Polymer
Composites.
(Report).
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=upitt_main&i
d=GALE|A366348546&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&userGro
up=upitt_main&authCount=1#
[3] (2013). “PUNCTURE-HEALING THERMOPLASTIC
RESIN CARBON-FIBER-REINFORCED COMPOSITES.”
World Intellectual Property Organization. (Patent).
10.1016/j.compositesa.2011.02.003
[4] M. Villani, Y. Deshmukh, C. Camlibel, et al. (2015).
“Superior relaxation of stresses and self-healing behavior of
epoxy-amine coatings.” RSC Advances. (Online Article).
DOI: 10.1039/c5ra21147f. pp. 245-259
[5] M. Sabzalian, J. Whatley, N. Parmentier, et al. (2015).
“Testing a self-healing material in microgravity using a 3U
cubesat.” IEEE Communications Magazine. (Online Article).
DOI: 10.1109/MCOM.2015.7105663. pp. 202-204
[6] C. Norris, I. Bond, R. Trask. (2011). “The role of
embedded bioinspired vasculature on damage formation in
self-healing carbon fibre reinforced composites.” Composites
Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing. (Online Article).
DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2011.02.003. pp. 639-648
[7] W. Binder. (2013). “Bio-Inspired Self-Healing
Elastomers.” Self-Healing Polymers: From Principles to
Applications.
(Online
Book).
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/pitt/detail.action?docID=10683253
[8] L. Guoqian, H. Meng. (2015). “Woodhead Publishing
Series in Composites Science and Engineering : Recent
Advances in Smart Self-Healing Polymers and Composites.”
1
Zachary Reger
Stephen Schanes
Elsevier
Science.
(Online
Book).
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/pitt/detail.action?docID=11062005
[9] P. Bajpai. (2013). “Update on Carbon Fiber.” Smithers
Group.
(Online
Book).
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/pitt/reader.action?docID=10717792
&ppg=62
[10]Y. Liu, A. Tiwari. (2015). “An Investigation into
Minimising Total Energy Consumption and Total Completion
Time in a Flexible Job Shop for Recycling Carbon Fiber
Reinforced Polymer.” The 22nd CIRP Conference on Life
Cycle Engineering. (Online Article).
http://rt4rf9qn2y.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.
88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fm
t=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=
An+investigation+into+minimising+total+energy+consumpt
ion+and+total+completion+time+in+a+flexible+job+shop+f
or+recycling+carbon+fiber+reinforced+polymer&rft.jtitle=P
rocedia+CIRP&rft.au=Liu%2C+Ying&rft.au=Tiwari%2C+
Ashutosh&rft.date=2015&rft.issn=22128271&rft.eissn=22128271&rft.volume=29&rft.spage=722&rft.epage=727&rft_id
=info:doi/10.1016%2Fj.procir.2015.01.063&rft.externalDBI
D=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=605713754&paramdict=enUS
W. Binder. (2013). “Bio-Inspired Self-Healing Elastomers.”
Self-Healing Polymers: From Principles to Applications.
(Online
Book).
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/pitt/detail.action?docID=10683253
This article comes from a professional book compiled to
provide extensive information on self-healing polymers
including design, dynamics, and analysis of mutli-scale
techniques. This information will be used in order to further
understand how self-healing polymers and epoxy resins
function on a microscopic level, while also allowing us to
compare these two different types of autonomic repairing
agents for their self-healing performance.
C. Norris, I. Bond, R. Trask. (2011). “The role of embedded
bioinspired vasculature on damage formation in self-healing
carbon fibre reinforced composites.” Composites Part A:
Applied Science and Manufacturing. (Online Article). DOI:
10.1016/j.compositesa.2011.02.003. pp. 639-648
This article is part of a larger, scholarly journal, which is
peer-reviewed for accuracy and relevance, focusing on
composite materials and the manufacturing processes used to
produce them. More specifically, this article details the
manufacture and effects of embedded epoxy vasculature in
self-healing carbon fiber composites (SHCFC). We will use
this information to compare the advantages and disadvantages
of embedded vasculature against other types of epoxy
implementation in SHCFC’s.
SOURCES CONSULTED
S. van der Zwaag. (2010). “Routes and mechanisms towards
self healing behaviour in engineering materials.” Bulletin of
the Polish Academy of Sciences: Technical Sciences. (Online
Article). DOI: 10.2478/v10175-010-0022-6. pp. 227-236
G. Williams, R. Trask, I. Bond. (2007). “A self-healing
carbon fibre reinforced polymer for aerospace applications.”
Composites Part A: Applied Science and Manufacturing.
(Online Article). DOI: 10.1016/j.compositesa.2007.01.013.
pp. 1525-1532
University Library System. (2014). “Instructions on use of
Library.” University of Pittsburgh. (Instructional video).
M. Villani, Y. Deshmukh, C. Camlibel, et al. (2015).
“Superior relaxation of stresses and self-healing behavior of
epoxy-amine coatings.” RSC Advances. (Online Article).
DOI: 10.1039/c5ra21147f. pp. 245-259
This article comes from the Royal Society of Chemistry,
the UK’s large professional organization supporting
chemical-based science, and highlights the superior
capabilities of adding acetamide to epoxy coatings in regards
to adhesion of composites to metal materials. We will be able
to use this information in order to point out the viability of
adhering carbon fiber composites to metal surfaces as well
explore the capabilities of these self-healing coatings.
ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY
P. Bajpai. (2013). “Update on Carbon Fiber.” Smithers
Group.
(Online
Book).
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/pitt/reader.action?docID=10717792
&ppg=62
This peer-reviewed book contains a chapter on the
difficulty of recycling carbon fiber polymer composites. It
provides relevant statistics as to the amount of carbon fiber
polymer blends recycled and it goes into detail about the
chemical processes that make recycling so difficult. We will
use this information to present a possible ethical concern with
increased use of carbon fiber polymer composites that will be
brought forth with our technology.
R. Hedge, A. Dahiya, M. Kamath. (2004). “Carbon Fibers.”
University of Tennessee Knoxville. (Online Article).
http://www.engr.utk.edu/mse/Textiles/CARBON%20FIBER
S.htm
This article written by university professors provides a
scientific overview as to the popularity of carbon fiber in
engineering over time, the manufacturing processes of carbon
fiber, and practicality of carbon fiber composites for multiple
uses. This article quickly establishes how important carbon
fibers have becoming in the world of engineering. We hope
to use this paper in order to contextualize the importance of
self-healing carbon fibers in our introduction.
2
Zachary Reger
Stephen Schanes
T. Yang, Y. Du, Z. Li, et al. (2014). Polymers and Polymer
Composites.
(Report).
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=upitt_main&i
d=GALE|A366348546&v=2.1&it=r&sid=summon&userGro
up=upitt_main&authCount=1#
This article written for a peer-reviewed journal provides
substantial data as to the mechanical properties of self-healing
carbon fiber composites (SHCFC’s) and summarizes how the
healing mechanism works. This article includes stats on the
fracture toughness and short-beam shear strength of SHCFC’s
before and after the healing process, thus demonstrating the
differences between the two. This data will be used to
demonstrate the effectiveness of SHCFC’s for aerospace
applications.
United States Of America, As Represented By The
Administrator Of The National Aeronautics And Space
Administration.
(2013).
“PUNCTURE-HEALING
THERMOPLASTIC
RESIN
CARBON-FIBERREINFORCED COMPOSITES.” World Intellectual
Property
Organization.
(Patent).
10.1016/j.compositesa.2011.02.003
This source is the patent NASA filed for the technology
that is being researched. The patent provides further
knowledge as to the mechanism of self-healing and the
creation process of SHCFC’s. This patent describes how the
polymer coating the carbon fiber seeps into cracks and
solidifies, thus healing it. This source will be used to explain
the working mechanism of the self-healing process
throughout the paper.
L. Guoqian, H. Meng. (2015). “Woodhead Publishing Series
in Composites Science and Engineering : Recent Advances in
Smart Self-Healing Polymers and Composites.” Elsevier
Science.
(Online
Book).
http://site.ebrary.com/lib/pitt/detail.action?docID=11062005
This peer-reviewed book details the newest advancements
in the field of self-healing polymers. Relevant advancements
include the ability to reabsorb polymers for increased number
of healings and the decreased loss of mechanical strength after
healing. We plan on using this information to demonstrate
how our technology could be realistically improved in the
foreseeable future through more advanced polymer usage,
especially because these developments address primary flaws.
Y. Liu, A. Tiwari. (2015). “An Investigation into Minimising
Total Energy Consumption and Total Completion Time in a
Flexible Job Shop for Recycling Carbon Fiber Reinforced
Polymer.” The 22nd CIRP Conference on Life Cycle
Engineering. (Online Article).
http://rt4rf9qn2y.search.serialssolutions.com/?ctx_ver=Z39.
88-2004&ctx_enc=info%3Aofi%2Fenc%3AUTF8&rfr_id=info:sid/summon.serialssolutions.com&rft_val_fm
t=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:journal&rft.genre=article&rft.atitle=
An+investigation+into+minimising+total+energy+consumpt
ion+and+total+completion+time+in+a+flexible+job+shop+f
or+recycling+carbon+fiber+reinforced+polymer&rft.jtitle=P
rocedia+CIRP&rft.au=Liu%2C+Ying&rft.au=Tiwari%2C+
Ashutosh&rft.date=2015&rft.issn=22128271&rft.eissn=22128271&rft.volume=29&rft.spage=722&rft.epage=727&rft_id
=info:doi/10.1016%2Fj.procir.2015.01.063&rft.externalDBI
D=n%2Fa&rft.externalDocID=605713754&paramdict=enUS
This peer-reviewed article provides additional insight as to
why recycling carbon fiber polymer composites is so difficult.
The article details Europe’s recent passage of a landfill law
preventing carbon fiber from being dumped leading to
increased need for recycling. Also, methods of how to reduce
the energy used in recycling are detailed. We will use this
information to demonstrate recycling techniques may become
more feasible for SHCFC’s in the future.
3