J Mater Sci (2012) 47:44494456
DOI 10.1007/s10853-012-6303-8
Self-healing of delamination fatigue cracks in carbon fibreepoxy
laminate using mendable thermoplastic
K. Pingkarawat C. H. Wang R. J. Varley
A. P. Mouritz
Received: 27 November 2011 / Accepted: 25 January 2012 / Published online: 17 February 2012
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2012
Abstract This article examines the self-healing repair of
delamination damage in mendable carbon fibreepoxy
laminates under static or fatigue interlaminar loading. The
healing of delamination cracks in laminates containing
particles or fibres of the mendable thermoplastic
poly[ethylene-co-(methacrylic acid)] (EMAA) was inves-
tigated. The results showed that the formation of large-
scale bridging zone of EMAA ligaments along the crack
upon healing yielded a large increase (*300%) in the
static mode I interlaminar fracture toughness, exceeding
the requirement of full restoration. The mendable laminates
retained high healing efficiency with multiple repair cycles
because of the capability of EMAA to reform the bridging
zone under static delamination crack growth conditions.
Under fatigue loading, healing by the EMAA was found to
restore the mode I fatigue crack growth resistance, with the
rates of growth being slightly less than that pertinent to the
unmodified laminate. The EMAA bridging zone, which
generated high toughness under static loading conditions,
does not develop under fatigue loading because of rapid
fatigue failure of the crack bridging ligaments. Similar to
the multiple healing capability of EMAA under static
loading, multiple healing of delamination fatigue cracks is
confirmed, with the fatigue crack growth rates remaining
approximately unchanged. This study shows that EMAA
K. Pingkarawat  C. H. Wang  A. P. Mouritz (&)
Sir Lawrence Wackett Aerospace Research Centre,
School of Aerospace, Mechanical and Manufacturing
Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476,
Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia
e-mail: adrian.mouritz@rmit.edu.au
R. J. Varley
CSIRO Materials Science and Engineering, Private Bag 33,
Clayton South MDC, Clayton South, VIC 3169, Australia
was capable of full recovery of fatigue crack growth
resistance and superior healing efficiency for static loading.
Introduction
Growth of delamination cracks in fibrepolymer laminates
under repeated loading is a long-standing problem for
composite structures subjected to in-service fatigue. Owing
to the high sensitivity of fatigue growth rate of delamination
cracks to the applied stress, delaminations can change from
no growth to rapid crack extension with relatively small
changes in the operating loads. This unstable crack growth
behaviour is a consideration in the conservative design of
certain types of safetycritical composite structures. A
notable example is the so-called no-growth design regula-
tion applied to primary composite structures for civil and
(many) military aircrafts [e.g. [1]]. This regulation man-
dates that delamination cracks must not grow under fatigue
loading over a specific period of in-service use. The initi-
ation and growth of delamination cracks in laminates under
fatigue loading has been studied in detail [26]. The
delamination growth rate is dependent on many factors,
including the cyclic stress range; type of fatigue loading
(e.g. mode I and mode II); stress ratio (R-ratio); and crack
bridging effects. Reliable predictions of the fatigue crack
growth rate for delaminations in brittle matrix polymer
laminates, such as carbon fibreepoxy composite, is diffi-
cult under in-service fatigue loads, and therefore it is nec-
essary to over-design the composite to avoid crack growth.
Self-healing repair is emerging as an alternative to con-
ventional repair methods, which does not involve any
removal of the damaged material and the application of
mechanically fastened or adhesively bonded doubler repairs.
Various self-healing techniques have been developed, which
123
4450
are classified as encapsulated [e.g. [7, 8]], microvascular
[e.g. [911]] and mendable polymer systems [e.g. [1214]].
Each of these techniques has the capacity to partially or
completely heal delamination cracks and restore the
mechanical properties of the damaged composite. The effi-
ciency of the self-healing process is usually quantified by
measuring the recovery to the interlaminar fracture tough-
ness, fracture load, or some other property sensitive to the
presence of damage.
Recent research has revealed that poly[ethylene-
co-(methacrylic acid)] (EMAA) can be used as a mendable
thermoplastic agent to repair delamination cracks and other
types of damage in epoxy matrix materials [1522]. EMAA
is an effective mendable polymer system because it adheres
strongly to epoxy resin; heals delaminations and cracks;
and restores mechanical properties after the healing process
is complete [15, 16]. EMAA is blended into epoxy as small
particles or thin fibres which form an insoluble second
phase. Healing occurs via a solid phase condensation
reaction at the interface of the EMAA phase and epoxy
resin at elevated temperature (typically around 150 C),
which produces volatiles (mostly water) within the EMAA.
The volatiles form high-pressure bubbles within the hot,
molten EMAA which then forces the thermoplastic into
delaminations and other open flaws. Upon cooling, the
EMAA bonds to the epoxy at the crack surfaces via
hydrogen bonding and thereby heals the damage and
restores high fracture toughness. Since this condensation
reaction occurs at the interface, EMAA is not consumed
during the reaction with the epoxy matrix. It is expected
that the presence of repeated healing arises from further
reaction with epoxy functional groups, repeated expansion
of the volatiles products or the fresh expansion of volatiles
newly exposed to the fracture surface. Some combination
of these factors helps us ensure that EMAA can be used for
multiple repairs with little loss in healing efficiency.
Meure et al. [16] and Pingkarawat et al. [19] recently
reported that EMAA can repair delamination cracks in
carbon fibreepoxy laminate and restore more than 100%
of the mode I interlaminar fracture toughness. Varley and
Zwaag [17] showed that ionomers similar to EMAA can
also repair ballistic impact damage, which includes
delamination cracks, in epoxy matrix laminates. However,
the healing efficiency of EMAA in the repair of fatigue
cracks and the restoration of the interlaminar fatigue
properties of epoxy matrix laminates is not known.
Regardless of the type of self-healing technique, whether it
be encapsulated, microvascular or mendable polymer (such
as EMAA), it should have the capability to restore the
fatigue properties of the damaged material. To date, how-
ever, no studies have reported on the healing efficiency of
fatigue delamination cracks in composite laminates using
either capsulated, microvascular or mendable techniques.
123
J Mater Sci (2012) 47:44494456
This article investigates the repair of fatigue-induced
delamination cracks and the recovery of the interlaminar
fatigue properties of carbon fibreepoxy laminate using the
mendable thermoplastic EMAA. Mode I delamination
fatigue tests were performed on two types of mendable
laminate containing EMAA and an unmodified laminate
without EMAA. The mendable laminates contained EMAA
particles or fibres, which were dispersed as an insoluble
second phase within the epoxy matrix. The healing effi-
ciency was quantified by measuring changes to the
delamination crack growth rate of the EMAA laminates
before and after healing under mode I interlaminar cyclic
loading. The ability of the EMAA to repair fatigue cracks
and restore the fatigue crack growth resistance was asses-
sed for multiple healing cycles. The mechanisms control-
ling the repair of fatigue cracks and the restoration of the
interlaminar fatigue properties were investigated. The
article also examines similarities and differences in the
healing of delamination cracks which grow under static and
fatigue mode I interlaminar loading conditions. In this
article, static loading is defined as a monotonically
increasing crack opening displacement applied to the
delamination crack at a slow rate (i.e. strain rate effects on
the delamination toughness can be ignored).
Materials and experimental methodology
Mendable carbon fibreepoxy laminates
The healing properties of EMAA were evaluated for a
20-ply-thick carbon fibreepoxy laminate with a cross-ply
([0/90]) stacking pattern. The carbon was a plain woven
fabric and the epoxy was diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A
(DGEBA) mixed with triethyltetramine (TETA) at the
stoichiometric ratio of 100:13 w/w epoxy to amine. Two
laminates with different types of EMAA were evaluated.
One laminate contained particles of EMAA dispersed as a
second phase throughout the epoxy matrix. The particles
were produced by cryogenic grinding and were spherical in
shape with diameters between 250 and 425 lm. The par-
ticles were blended into the uncured epoxy at 15% volume
content. The other laminate contained a woven mesh of
EMAA fibres (100-lm diameter). Four plies of the mesh
were located between the two middle plies of the laminate,
which was the location of delamination crack growth. In
addition, four EMAA plies were located between the two
middle plies and their neighbouring ply, as shown in Fig. 1,
to repair multiple delaminations in the event of crack
branching. An unmodified laminate without EMAA was
manufactured using the same carbon fabric and epoxy resin
as the two mendable laminates.
J Mater Sci (2012) 47:44494456
Fig. 1 Location of EMAA
fibres between the middle plies
of the carbon fibreepoxy
laminate
The laminates with and without EMAA were fabricated
using the wet hand lay-up process. The laminates were
cured and consolidated at 70 C and 2 MPa for 1 h and
then post-cured at 150 C for 30 min at ambient pressure.
The glass transition temperature of the epoxy after post-
curing was 142 C (tan d max) as measured by DMTA.
The carbon fibre content and thickness of the laminates are
given in Table 1, and the mendable laminates were found
to be thicker due mainly to the volume occupied by the
EMAA.
Static and fatigue interlaminar fracture toughness
testing
The healing efficiency of the EMAA particles and fibres
was quantified by measuring the recovery to the mode I
interlaminar fracture toughness using the double cantilever
beam (DCB) test. The DCB specimens were 130 mm long,
15 mm wide, and the unmodified and mendable laminate
specimens contained a pre-crack that was 35 or 43 mm
long, respectively. The pre-crack was created using 5-lm-
thick PTFE film located between the two mid-thickness
plies. Both static and fatigue DCB tests were performed;
under static loading, the crack opening displacement was
slowly increased monotonically, and under fatigue loading,
a cyclic crack opening displacement was applied.
The static interlaminar fracture toughness test was per-
formed by applying a crack opening load to the pre-cracked
end of the DCB specimen at a constant displacement rate of
Table 1 Carbon fibreepoxy laminates used to study the healing efficiency of EMAA
Composite EMAA self-healing agent
Control laminate No EMAA
EMAA particle laminate EMAA particles (250425 lm size range):
volume content of 15%
EMAA fibre laminate(4 ply/100 lm) EMAA mesh with 4 plies of 100 lm diameter fibres
4451
2 mm/min in close accordance with ASTM D5528-
01(2007)e3 specifications. The delamination crack was
grown in short increments of 510 mm over a total length
of about 60 mm. At each increment of crack growth, the
applied load (P), crack opening displacement (d) and crack
length (a) values were measured. Using this data, the mode
I critical strain energy release rate was calculated using the
equation:
3Pd
G
2ba jDlj
where b is the width of the DCB specimen. jDlj is a cor-
rection factor to account for rotation effects at the delam-
ination crack tip, which was determined from the change in
the DCB specimen compliance with increasing delamina-
tion crack length.
The fatigue test was performed by applying a cyclic load
to the DCB specimens in mode I displacement control at
the frequency of 10 Hz. The R ratio, defined as the mini-
mum crack opening displacement normalised to the max-
imum crack opening in one load cycle, was 0.1. The
growth of the delamination was measured over a short
length (typically 510 mm) under a constant fatigue stress
intensity range (DGI) to measure the average crack growth
length per load cycle (da/dN). The range of strain energy
release rate was varied between *5 and *1500 J/m2 to
measure the fatigue crack growth rate over ten orders of
magnitude (i.e. da/dN from 10-9 to 10 mm/cycle). These
data were used to produce Paris fatigue curves for the
unmodified and mendable laminates.
Average carbon fibre Average laminate
content (vol%) thickness (mm)
40 3.5
26 5.0
30 4.0
123
4452 J Mater Sci (2012) 47:44494456

The mendable laminates were healed by heating to toughness of carbon fibreepoxy laminates after healing,
150 C for 30 min after static and fatigue DCB tests. No with the percentage increase being dependent on the
external pressure was applied to the specimens to close the EMAA concentration within the polymer matrix. Given
delamination crack during thermal healing. The laminates that the basic requirement of self-healing is to restore the
were then re-tested under the identical DCB test condition static properties to the same level as the original laminate,
to measure the healing efficiency of the EMAA under static the weight percentage of EMAA particles and fibres
and fatigue loadings. The efficacy of the EMAA to repair employed in the test coupons is higher than necessary, from
the laminate and restore the interlaminar toughness prop- the perspective of static fracture toughness.
erties was determined for five repetitions of the healing Fractographic analysis of the DCB specimens was per-
process, which were all performed under identical test formed to identify the interlaminar toughening mechanism
conditions. that induced the threefold increase to the static fracture
toughness of the EMAA laminates after healing. Figure 3
shows the delamination fracture surfaces of the laminate
Results and discussion containing EMAA particles before and after healing. (Sim-
ilar fracture surfaces were observed for the laminate con-
Healing of static delamination cracks taining EMAA fibres). The fracture surface showed no
obvious signs of the EMAA before healing, which was dis-
The static interlaminar fracture toughness (GIc) values for persed as small second-phase particles within the epoxy
the unmodified and mendable laminates in their original
condition (i.e. before healing) are shown in Fig. 2. The
figure also gives the static fracture toughness values for the
mendable laminates after healing of the delamination
crack. The fracture toughness of the laminate (in the ori-
ginal condition) did not change noticeably by the inclusion
of EMAA particles or fibres. That is, the EMAA did not act
as a toughening agent in its original condition. After
thermally activated healing (at 150 C for 30 min), how-
ever, the fracture toughness of the mendable laminates
increased by *300% compared to their original toughness.
This reveals that the EMAA particles and fibres were both
effective at healing the delamination crack and restoring
the static fracture toughness to about triple the original
value. Muere et al. [16] and Pingkarawat et al. [19] also
found that EMAA increased the static interlaminar fracture
Interlaminar Fracture Toughness (kJ/m )

1.75
2

original condition +309%

after self-healing +290%
1.50

1.25

1.00

0.75

0.50

0.25

0.00
1
Control Laminate Mendable 2Laminate 3 Laminate
Mendable
(EMAA Particles) (EMAA Fibres)

Fig. 2 Static interlaminar fracture toughness values for the unmod-

ified and mendable laminates in their original condition and after self-
healing. The percentage values show the increase to the fracture Fig. 3 Fracture surface of the mendable laminate (containing EMAA
toughness of the mendable laminates due to self-healing particles) a before and b after self-healing

123
J Mater Sci (2012) 47:44494456 4453

matrix. (These particles are not easily observed because of the delamination crack tip. They were created by plastic
the lack of phase contrast with the epoxy matrix). The frac- deformation of the EMAA phase residing along the
ture surface was changed upon healing, with discrete phase delamination crack plane (e.g. Fig. 3b) under a crack
regions of highly porous EMAA occurring on the delami- opening displacement. EMAA is a ductile thermoplastic
nation surface. Meure et al. [15, 22] and Varley et al. [21] which is chemically bonded to the epoxy matrix after
report that hydroxylacid condensation reactions catalysed healing [21, 22] via hydrogen bonding, and therefore is
via tertiary amine occur at the EMAAepoxy interface at the capable of large-strain plastic deformation without cohe-
healing temperature (150 C in the present investigation). sive failure at the EMAAepoxy interface. Traction loads
The reactions produce volatile by-products (e.g. water) that were carried by the bridging EMAA ligaments, and this
phase-separate into tiny bubbles within the hot, molten reduced the stress acting on the crack during DCB testing
EMAA. The high internal pressure of these bubbles helps the which resulted in the large increase to the static fracture
spread of the EMAA melt to fill up cracks. The phase regions toughness measured after healing. The EMAA bridging
of EMAA on the delamination fracture surface after healing zone was highly effective in toughening the laminates after
were formed by the fusion of many particles or fibres origi- healing because of the high density of bridging ligaments
nally within the epoxy matrix, but were forced into the crack that extended over a long distance along the delamination
under the high pressure exerted by the gas-filled bubbles. The crack.
porous structure in the EMAA phase at the fracture surface
shown in Fig. 4 is a clear indication of the formation of a high
density of bubbles from the condensation reaction process
with the epoxy matrix. Despite the porosity of the EMAA
phase, the experimental results show that it is highly effec-
tive at restoring the interlaminar fracture toughness of the
laminates after healing.
Cross-sectional views of the delamination crack in a
EMAA laminate before and after healing are presented in
Fig. 5. The delamination after healing was reformed by
first repairing the original crack by thermal activation of
the EMAA (150 C for 30 min) and then repeating the
static interlaminar fracture test. After healing, the delami-
nation was bridged by a high density of thin EMAA liga-
ments, absent before healing. The ligaments formed a
large-scale bridging zone (up to 1012 mm long) behind

Fig. 5 Delamination crack in a mendable laminate a before self-

Fig. 4 Porous structure of the EMAA caused by volatiles generated healing and b after self-healing. Note the absence and the presence of
by reactions with the epoxy matrix during thermally activated self- crack bridging ligaments of EMAA before and after healing,
healing respectively

123
4454 J Mater Sci (2012) 47:44494456

The healing efficiency of the EMAA laminates was

determined for five repair cycles, and the recovery to the
static fracture toughness values after each repair are given
in Fig. 6. The high fracture toughness gained with the first
healing cycle was retained with the second and third
healing cycles for both the laminates containing EMAA
particles or fibres. However, the average fracture toughness
value then declined with subsequent healing cycles. Similar
behaviour has been reported for the multiple healing of
epoxy resin [15] and carbon fibreepoxy laminate [16, 19]
containing EMAA. The healing efficiency decreased with
the number of healing cycles as the reactive compounds in
the epoxy were depleted by multiple reactions processes
with the EMAA. Fractographic analysis revealed that after
each healing cycle the EMAA formed second phase
regions on the delamination fracture plane which then
plastically deformed into bridging ligaments with repeated
crack growth. For example, Fig. 7 shows planar and cross-
sectional views of the delamination crack in an EMAA
laminate following five healing cycles, and its appearance
is similar to the crack after one healing cycle (Figs. 3b, 5b).
The ability of the EMAA-rich regions to rebind with the
epoxy matrix along the delamination fracture plane after
each healing cycle, and then to reform the bridging traction
zone upon repeated delamination crack growth, is the
controlling mechanism for the retention of high static
fracture toughness with multiple healing. However, there
was a consistent decrease in fracture toughness from the
second healing cycle onwards. Figure 7a does indeed show
a porous structure as previously indicated. Furthermore, the
ligaments as shown in Fig. 7b appear less frequently across
the delamination fracture plane. These factors are likely to Fig. 7 a Fracture surface showing porous EMAA phase after five
contribute to the decrease in fracture toughness with healing cycles. b EMAA bridging zone along the delamination crack
after five self-healing cycles
increasing healing events.

Healing of fatigue delamination cracks

2.0
Interlaminar Fracture Toughness (kJ/m )
2

Figure 8 shows the effect of mode I cyclic loading on the

fatigue crack growth rate for the unmodified and EMAA
EMAA particles
1.5 laminates in their original condition. The fatigue crack
growth rate, da/dN, is the average distance of delamination
crack growth per load cycle. There is significant scatter in
1.0 EMAA fibres the fatigue crack growth rate data because the delamination
did not always grow at the same rate under a constant
cyclic stress range, due to the slip/stick nature of the crack
0.5 growth process. Scatter in the fatigue crack growth rate is
common for carbon fibreepoxy laminates and other types
of brittle polymer matrix composites subjected to slip/stick
0.0 behaviour [26]. Figure 8 shows that the unmodified and
0 1 2 3 4 5
mendable laminates show similar curves with a linear log
Number of Healing Cycles
log relationship between the delamination growth rate and
Fig. 6 Effect of number of self-healing cycles on the static the cyclic strain energy release rate range between about 70
interlaminar fracture toughness of the mendable laminates and 400 J/m2. The fatigue strain energy release rate

123
J Mater Sci (2012) 47:44494456 4455

2 2

Crack Growth Rate, da/dN (mm/cycle)

10 10 (a)
Crack Growth Rate, da/dN (mm/cycle)
control laminate
EMAA particle laminate
0 0
10 EMAA fibre laminate 10

-2 -2
10 10

-4 -4
10 10

-6 -6 before self-healing
10 10
one self-healing cycle
two self-healing cycles
10
-8
10
-8 three self-healing cycles
four self-healing cycles
five self-healing cycles
-10 -10
10 -2 -1 0
10
-2 -1 0 1
10 10 10 10 10 10 10
2
2
Cyclic Stress Intensity Range, GI (kJ/m ) Cyclic Stress Intensity Range, GI (kJ/m )
2
10
(b)

Crack Growth Rate, da/dN (mm/cycle)

Fig. 8 Fatigue delamination crack growth curves for the unmodified
and mendable laminates in the original condition 0
10

-2
10
thresholds for the unmodified and mendable laminates
were approximately the same (DGI * 70 J/m2), below -4
10
which no crack growth occurred. The maximum cyclic
stress intensity range to induce rapid delamination crack -6 before self-healing
10
growth in the three laminates was also the same (DGI one self-healing cycle
two self-healing cycles
* 400 J/m2). The similarity in the crack growth rate -8 three self-healing cycles
10
curves between the unmodified and EMAA laminates four self-healing cycles
five self-healing cycles
reveals that EMAA in the original condition does not -10
10
change the delamination fracture resistance under fatigue 10
-2
10
-1
10
0
10
1

2
loading. This is consistent with the static fracture toughness Cyclic Stress Intensity Range, GI (kJ/m )
values which were similar for the unmodified and EMAA
laminates before healing (Fig. 2). Fig. 9 Fatigue crack growth rate curves for the mendable laminates
containing a EMAA particles and b EMAA fibres before and after
Figure 9 shows the effect of multiple healing cycles on
self-healing
the fatigue crack growth curves for the laminates contain-
ing EMAA particles or fibres. The EMAA was able to heal
the fatigue crack upon heating the delaminated specimens
(150 C for 30 min), and the delamination fatigue behav-
iour of the laminates following healing was approximately
the same as the unmodified laminate over most of the
cyclic stress intensity range. These results indicate that
EMAA is capable of fully restoring the fatigue crack
growth resistance of the laminate. At high cyclic stress
ranges (DGI [ 400 J/m2), the healed laminates even
exhibited enhanced fatigue properties, likely due to the
increase in the static fracture toughness. The fatigue crack
growth curves were similar for the different number of
healing cycles, and the small loss in static fracture tough-
ness measured after the third healing cycle was not
observed in the fatigue behaviour.
Fractographic examination of the laminates during
interlaminar fatigue testing revealed that the EMAA
Fig. 10 Cross-sectional view of the fatigue delamination crack in a
bridging zone (that occurred under static loading) did not mendable laminate. Note the absence of a large-scale bridging
occur. For example, Fig. 10 shows the delamination fatigue traction zone. Only two thin bridging ligaments are visible, which are
crack in a EMAA laminate following healing, and there circled

123
4456
was no evidence of a large-scale bridging zone behind the
crack front. A very low density of bridging ligaments was
observed along the fatigue crack, although these were
much fewer in number than under static loading and the
ligaments failed by transverse adhesive rupture under the
cyclic loading. The lack of improvement in the fatigue
delamination resistance of the laminates after healing is
therefore attributed to the short tensile fatigue life of the
EMAA ligaments, which impeded the formation of a
bridging zone. Fatigue failure occurred as a cohesive event
within the EMAA ligaments, and not an interfacial
(adhesion) failure event at the interfacial regions between
the ligaments and laminate fracture surfaces. The cause for
the rapid fatigue failure of the ligaments has not been
determined, although it is possible that the low-cycle fati-
gue failure of the EMAA ligaments under high strain
cycling may partly be responsible. Furthermore, time-
dependent (creep) plastic yielding of thermoplastics under
tensile loads can lead to short stress rupture times and low
rupture stress levels. It is possible that creep-induced
plastic flow of the EMAA under tensile fatigue loading
causes the ligaments to permanently deform and break
within a relatively small number of cycles (i.e. short
loading time). This would explain the presence of liga-
ments under static loading (which is not time dependent for
the test conditions used here) and their absence under
cyclic loading (which is time dependent), although further
investigation and analysis of the fatigue properties of the
EMAA ligaments are required.
Conclusions
The EMAA is an effective agent for the healing of
delamination cracks in carbon fibreepoxy laminates
formed under static or fatigue interlaminar loading. The
thermoplastic particles and fibres were equally effective at
repairing the delamination cracks at the EMAA concen-
trations that were used. Thermally activated healing of
delaminations resulted in a large increase to the static
interlaminar fracture toughness above the properties of the
original laminate, due to the infusion of EMAA along the
crack plane under the high pressure delivery mechanism
and strong EMAA-epoxy bonding. The static fracture
toughness was increased by about 300% following healing,
and the high healing efficiency was retained with multiple
repairs of delamination cracks. The high healing efficiency
123
J Mater Sci (2012) 47:44494456
was due to the EMAA residing on the crack plane forming
a large-scale bridging traction zone along the delamination.
While EMAA promoted high healing efficiency under
static interlaminar loading, it was less effective under
fatigue loading. Nevertheless, the EMAA was able to fully
restore the fatigue resistance of delamination cracks. The
fatigue crack growth curves were similar before and after
multiple healing cycles and attributed to the inability of the
EMAA to form a large-scale bridging traction zone under
cyclic loading, which occurs under static loading.
Acknowledgements This study was supported in part by an
Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage project (LP100200328).
The authors thank P. Tkaytck (RMIT) for his technical assistance with
the interlaminar fracture toughness testing, and S. Meure (formerly
from CSIRO) for his assistance in the preparation of the samples.
References
1. Rouchon J Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V.,
Report No. NLR-TP-2009-221
2. Hojo M, Ochiai S, Gustafson C-G, Tanaka K (1994) Eng Fract
Mech 49:35
3. Asp LE, Sjogren A, Greenhalgh ES (2001) J Comp Tech Res
23:55
4. Hojo M, Ando T, Tanaka M, Adachi T, Ochiai S, Endo Y (2006)
Int J Fatigue 28:1154
5. Arguelles A, Vina J, Canteli AF, Castrillo MA, Bonhomme J
(2008) Comp Sci Tech 68:2325
6. Brunner AJ, Murphy N, Pinter G (2009) Eng Fract Mech 76:2678
7. Wu DY, Meure S, Solomon D (2008) Prog Polym Sci 33:479
8. White SR, Sottos NR, Geubelle PH, Moore JS, Kessler MR,
Sriram SR, Brown EN, Viswanathan S (2001) Nature 409:794
9. Trask RS, Bond IP (2006) Smart Mater Struct 15:704
10. Hamilton AR, Sottos NR, White SR (2010) Adv Mater 22:5159
11. Koursaurakis A, Mouritz AP (2010) Smart Mater Struct 19
12. Murphy EB, Wudl F (2010) Prog Polym Sci 35:223
13. Park JS, Takahashi K, Guo Z, Wang Y, Bolanos E, Hamann-
Schaffner C, Murphy E, Wudl F, Han HT (2008) J Comp Mater
42:2869
14. Hayes SA, Jones FR, Marshiya K, Zhang W (2007) Compos A
38A:1116
15. Meure S, Wu DY, Furman S (2009) Acta Mater 57:4312
16. Meure S, Furman S, Khor S (2010) Macro Mater Eng 95:420
17. Varley RJ, Van Der Zwaag S (2008) Polym Test 27:11
18. Wang CH, Sidhu K, Yang T, Zhang J, Shanks R (2011)
Compos A
19. Pingkarawat K, Wang CH, Varley R, Mouritz AP Compos A
(submitted)
20. Yang T, Wang CH, Zhang J, He S, Mouritz AP Compos Sci
Technol (submitted)
21. Varley RJ, Meure S, Wu DY, Mayo S, Nairn K, Furman S Eur
Polym J. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2011.11.021
22. Meure S, Wu D-Y, Furman SA (2010) Vib Spectrom 52:10