A method for self-healing of CFRP using optical fibers

CFRP has been applied in various fields where it is mostly used as laminates. CFRP laminates are likely to fracture between the interlaminar surfaces. To resolve this problem, we proposed a self-healing system for CFRP using optical fibers and UV-curable resin. In this study, self-healing CFRP samples were prepared and the effectiveness of repairing the inter-laminar fractures was confirmed by using optical fibers and UV-curable resin. In addition, we have also clarified the factors that affect the repair rate by determining the bonding strength of epoxy resin and UV-curable resin. From the experiment results, we were able to confirm the feasibility of the proposed self-healing system.