
Self-Healing Material Could Extend Planes, Cars and Turbines Lifespans to Centuries
U.S. engineers developed a fiber-reinforced polymer composite that self-heals internal damage by printing a EMAA healing interlayer and embedding thin carbon heater layers. When damage occurs, electricity warms the EMAA, melts it, and it flows into cracks to re-bond the interface, enabling over 1,000 consecutive heal cycles in lab tests and potentially extending component lifespans from decades to centuries for aircraft, cars, and wind turbines, though real-world testing and certification remain necessary.




