Self-Healing System Applied to Aviation 76
ScienceDaily is reporting that the self-healing materials are being used in some new aircraft designs. We covered several self-healing systems in the past months, but it is nice to see it starting to find practical applications. "This simple but ingenious technique, similar to the bruising and bleeding/healing processes we see after we cut ourselves, has been developed by aerospace engineers at Bristol University, with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). It has potential to be applied wherever fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites are used. These lightweight, high-performance materials are proving increasingly popular not only in aircraft but also in car, wind turbine and even spacecraft manufacture. The new self-repair system could therefore have an impact in all these fields."
Re:So... (Score:5, Informative)
world war 2 (Score:2, Informative)
Re:A possible step back (Score:3, Informative)
I don't think they intended this to be a long term solution to aircraft damage, but rather keep the airplane in the air until it can land safely and then the ground crew can make long term repairs.
Re:Currently (Score:4, Informative)
That chromate conversion does sound awesome, but is that useful outside of cosmetic applications? (self-repairing bumpers and rims, anyone?)
Re:Currently (Score:4, Informative)
I'm not an expert in this but I believe the chromates the OP is referring to are the type typically used as corrosion inhibitors. If you've ever been inside military airplane, you might have noticed the bright green paint used on the interior. That's zinc chromate. You can see how a anti-corrosion layer which could self-repair would be of great use in harsh environments or safety-critical applications.
Re:That's not what is says (Score:2, Informative)