 
Genesys™ Reflexive (Self-Healing) Composites
Mimicking
Organic
Responses
CRG is currently developing bio-inspired, reflexive
systems that will allow aerostructures to “heal”
themselves during flight. Designed to mimic the human reflex
response, reflexive panels will sense structural damage through
an integrated health monitoring system, respond quickly and
autonomously to the damage, and heal the area while keeping
the operator informed of the healing process.
In
the
human
body,
when
injury
occurs,
a
message
is
sent
from
the
damaged
location
to
the
spinal
cord.
This
information
is
sent
only
to
the
spinal
cord,
resulting
in
a
reflex
response
without
conscious
thought.
After
the
reflex
response
is
initiated,
another
message
is
relayed
to
the
brain
providing
conscious
awareness
of
the
injury.
The
automatic
reflex
response
greatly
reduces
the
amount
of
time
required
to
respond
to
an
injury.
Reflexive
Composites
CRG’s Genesys system uses this same response
and healing concept. Using a piezoelectric-based structural
health monitoring (SHM) system as the “nervous system,”
an autonomous control system as the “spinal cord,”
and the human vehicle operation as the brain, the reflexive
system will be able to sense damage, send a signal to the
control system, respond to the damage, and alert the operator
to the actions taken. This system greatly reduces response
time to damage, resulting in increased vehicle survivability.
Genesys reflexive composites will allow aerostructures
to regain aerodynamic surfaces after damage, maintain fuel
efficiency, and offer more payload capacity to lighter weight
composite structures. Currently, reflexive panels can respond
to and heal damage from the following:
•
Punctures
•
Hail
•
Birds
•
Ground
damage
•
Fatigue
failure
Health
Monitoring
System
CRG’s Veritex™ composites, which
are part of the Genesys system design system, have been tailored
to focus on strength recovery, shape recovery, and polymer
healing. Reflexive composite panels have demonstrated the
ability to retain 90% of flexural strength and modulus after
yield and subsequent healing cycle exposure.
The
system
is
integrated
with
SHM
to
provide
continuous
feedback
to
the
control
system
regarding
the
structural
integrity
of
the
composite
panels.
The
SHM
continually
sweeps
the
structure
looking
for
damage
and
analyzing
the
information
by
magnitude,
physical
size,
and
zone
prioritization.
Damage
is
assessed
on
a
predetermined
scale
geared
toward
vehicle
survival.
The
control
system
works
much
like
an
organic
spinal
cord,
autonomously
responding
to
damage
according
to
the
priority
scale
and
informing
the
vehicle
operator
of
the
recovery
status.
|
