Characterization and production of self-healing glass fiber reinforced epoxy composites with vascular channels

Composite materials, which are recognized to be more advantages than traditional materials, are now widely used in the aerospace, aviation, automotive, marine and energy sectors. As in every sector, efficiency and sustainability are important in these sectors. Despite their superior properties, it is undesirable that some composite materials have a brittle structure and therefore tend to form microcracks in the structure even in normal use. For this reason, self-healing studies play a key role for efficiency and sustainability. In this thesis, the self-healing process and optimization using vascular channels in polymer matrix composite materials have been investigated. Two main parameters were utilized in the self-healing process: the volumes of healing agents at 0.8% and 1.2%, and impact energies of 12, 18, and 24 joules. The micro and macro structures of the self-healing samples were examined using digital microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images. The structure and mechanical properties were analyzed through Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and three-point bending tests. The investigations confirmed the distribution of healing agents and the self-healing process morphologically and structurally. 62% improvement in flexural strength was observed in the mechanical properties.