Can you please comment on future of self-healing composite materials, e.g. what are the reasons for not using (if) them in aerospace applications? What factors may increase their applications dramatically in the future?
This is a very fast growing area. And yes, they have been already used in aerospace applications. Here is some insight into the factors that might boost their future applications (see the attached slide show).
http://www.slideshare.net/sahilgupta/self-healing-materials
The factors which may increase their applicability are: their robustness, stability and strength, economically added value, reliability, quality, durability and sustainability.
Self-healing materials/composite will have a big impact in future especially for those materials that are difficult to access such as underwater piping, aerospace structures whereby maintenance and inspection are almost impossible. With self-healing capability, there would be no worries on issues such as erosion and microcracking.
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