Smart prepregs for in-situ damage healing and easier recycling of composite structures

Although widely used in the aerospace, automotive, wind and sports industries, composite materials tend to become brittle due to their composition.

Since there are few solutions to effectively repair these materials, damaged items often have to be replaced, resulting in wasted material.

To address this problem, CompPair has created a structural composite that can repeatedly heal small damages, reducing repair time from several hours to a few minutes, while being compatible with most current manufacturing processes.

In addition to its self-healing properties, smart prepregs are crack resistant and highly recyclable. By reducing maintenance costs, increasing product life and being recyclable, smart prepregs provide a highly versatile and durable solution for the composites industry.

Key features

• Can help to reduce composite resources consumption by 50%
• Can help to reduce landfills’ volume by 50%
• Reduces by 30% carbon footprint due to composite wastes

Profitability

• For wind turbine applications, it can save up to 160,000 $ over its lifetime
• For marine applications, it can save up to $6,300 over the life of a boat

Categories of application

• Composites materials
• Structural building material
• Materials reclamation
• Waste management

Companies: CompPair Technologies Ltd., Solar Impulse Foundation

Industries: Aerospace, Other Composite End-use areas

Technologies: Other Processing Method

Terms: Applications, Business, Innovations, News Worldwide