Self-healing aircraft wings repair themselves after damage
In near future, aircrafts will be equipped with wings that are capable of repairing themselves after getting damaged or developing cracks. A team of British researchers from the #-Link-Snipped-# has been developing a carbon fibre product that can seep into cracks in plane wings and then harden to fix it. The researchers believe that this new self-healing technology is about to become commonplace in near future. It will be able to fix your damaged phone or even the nail polish.
The team led by Professor Duncan Wass has succeeded in modifying carbon fibre composite materials which are used in high performance bikes, aircraft wings and even badminton racquets. The team collaborated with aerospace engineers from the University to develop a way to address the tiny, often undetectable cracks that typically develop in aircraft wing or the fuselage.
The technique involves adding microspheres to the carbon material, so tiny that they look like fine powder, but break on impact to release liquid healing agent. This liquid agent seeps into the crack automatically and comes in contact with a catalyst which accelerates the chemical reaction which causes it to harden. The hardened agent is just as strong after it is healed; laboratory tests have confirmed.
The overall process is similar to human body healing. If the skin gets damaged, the bleeding begins. The blood then coagulates to stop the flow. The damaged area then scabs and heals over a period of time. Researchers say that the carbon fibre composite developed by them has the same principle and it can repair the damaged part 'on the fly' if a bird hits the plane in the air.
The material's healing time is determined by the outside temperature. It may vary between a few hours to about a day. The greater the temperature, the faster is the healing. The team believes that their material can have wide range of applications - from helmets to fishing rods and golf sticks. Prof. Wass is confident that in the next decade we'll see mobile phones with displays that can fix themselves after developing cracks.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
The team led by Professor Duncan Wass has succeeded in modifying carbon fibre composite materials which are used in high performance bikes, aircraft wings and even badminton racquets. The team collaborated with aerospace engineers from the University to develop a way to address the tiny, often undetectable cracks that typically develop in aircraft wing or the fuselage.
The technique involves adding microspheres to the carbon material, so tiny that they look like fine powder, but break on impact to release liquid healing agent. This liquid agent seeps into the crack automatically and comes in contact with a catalyst which accelerates the chemical reaction which causes it to harden. The hardened agent is just as strong after it is healed; laboratory tests have confirmed.
The overall process is similar to human body healing. If the skin gets damaged, the bleeding begins. The blood then coagulates to stop the flow. The damaged area then scabs and heals over a period of time. Researchers say that the carbon fibre composite developed by them has the same principle and it can repair the damaged part 'on the fly' if a bird hits the plane in the air.
The material's healing time is determined by the outside temperature. It may vary between a few hours to about a day. The greater the temperature, the faster is the healing. The team believes that their material can have wide range of applications - from helmets to fishing rods and golf sticks. Prof. Wass is confident that in the next decade we'll see mobile phones with displays that can fix themselves after developing cracks.
Source: #-Link-Snipped-#
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