Experimental and multi‐scale finite element modeling for evaluating healing efficiency of electro‐sprayed microcapsule based glass fiber‐reinforced polymer composites

Abstract

Microcapsule based glass fiber‐reinforced polymer (GFRP) composites have attracted enormous attention due to enhancement of structures' longevity, reducing expenses, and simplicity of fabrication process. In this study, a micromechanical model of a woven E‐glass/epoxy composite containing microcapsules was developed based on finite element analysis (FEA). Modified sequential adsorption algorithm was chosen to generate and disperse microcapsules in three types of representative volume elements (RVEs). Also, mechanical properties of microcapsules and composite were assigned based on nanoindentation tests and standard experimental tests, respectively. Eventually, multi‐scaling method was implemented to homogenize maximum tensile stress, and subsequent evaluation of tensile after impact (TAI) healing efficiency. Therefore, a healing efficiency of 71% was obtained based on three types of simulations encompassing low‐velocity impact (LVI) and quasi‐static tensile tests on the RVEs. In order to validate the results; first, an electrospraying set‐up was exploited to fabricate multicore microcapsules. The fabricated microcapsules contained mercaptan hardener and epoxy resin as the healing agents, and they were covered by alginate shell. Second, incorporated composite specimens with microcapsules were fabricated via the hand‐layup method. The average TAI healing efficiency of 67% was achieved by experimental tests. Furthermore, scanning electron microscope images of the fractured surfaces confirmed rupture of microcapsules in the LVI test.

Compatibility of high strength silica‐modified microcapsules modified with polydopamine in elastomer substrates

“…The hardness and elastic modulus of untreated isocyanate microcapsules (0‐Si‐MCs) were 60.5 MPa and 0.5 GPa, respectively, while the hardness and elastic modulus of silica‐modified microcapsules (2‐Si‐MCs) were 139.9 MPa and 2.2 GPa, increasing 2.3 and 4.8 times, respectively. The microcapsule shell was embedded with silica micro nanoparticles, which improved the elastic modulus and hardness of the shell 49,50 …”

“…The microcapsule shell was embedded with silica micro nanoparticles, which improved the elastic modulus and hardness of the shell. 49,50 T A B L E 2 Data analysis of loading and unloading processes of different microcapsules in nanoindentation instrument.…”

A comprehensive investigation of the low-velocity impact response of enhanced GFRP composites with single and hybrid loading of various types of nanoparticles

“…The application of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites has become imperative across diverse engineering sectors as a result of their exceptional specific strength and stiffness properties [ [1] , [2] , [3] ]. Investigating the resistance of composite specimens to damage resulting from low-velocity impact (LVI) is a critical concern that needs to be addressed, in addition to other significant properties that are essential for various industrial applications [ [4] , [5] , [6] ]. This issue has been highlighted in previous studies [ [7] , [8] , [9] ].…”

Self-healing performance of a microcapsule-based structure reinforced with pre-strained shape memory alloy wires: 3-D FEM/XFEM modeling

“…Xue et al (2020) studied the effect of healing agent and matrix incompatibility on the healing efficiency of a cementitious composite using XFEM. Recently, Dadras et al (2022) performed experiments as well as multi-scale finite element simulations in order to study healing efficiency of composites with microcapsules. Moreover, numerical and analytical studies on elastic properties of microcapsule-based self-healing composites were interesting topics (see, e.g.…”