To Study the Self Healing Effect In Nano Particulate Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer Composite

Abstract

The study of self-healing materials in composites is inspired by biological systems in which damage triggers an autonomous healing response. In recent years, this concept of autonomic healing material, where initiation of repair is integral to the material, is being considered for engineering applications. Self-healing materials also have the benefit of offering lighter and optimized structures as well as reduced maintenance cost.Internal cracks in the glass fibre reinforced material drastically affect the useful life of the materials. Therefore materials with self healing capabilities are looked at as potential replacement of ordinary composites. In the present work, fungus has been used to heal the internal micro cracks of manufactured composites. Various types of fungus were screened to check their compatibility with glass fibre. Further, the glass fibers with fungus trammel have been used with epoxy to manufacture new type of composite. An experimental setup bas been fabricated for carrying out hygrothermal studies. The experimentation has been repeated with few fungus cultures grown on glass fiber and Cloisite 30B nanoclay coated specimens.The new composites were characterized using SEM. Tensile test have been conducted to determine the effect of fungus as a filler material in the composite. There was a significantly improvement in the tensile strength of the composite with fungus as a self healing material. The hygrothermal studies indicated a decrease in the tensile and flexural strength of the composites under hygrothermal laoding. The macro hardness of the composite with nano clay coating on the composite was improved remarkably.