Patent Document ID: 20140186476
Application ID: 14198091
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. A self-healing system comprising: at least one composite panel formed from a cured product of stacked plies, the stacked plies comprising: a first ply of an adaptive structure comprising a shape memory polymer chosen from thermoset shape memory polymers and thermoplastic shape memory polymers; a second ply comprising a matrix of heating elements; and a third ply comprising a sensor grid array; a damage detecting system that sends a waveform to the sensor grid array and receives a response from the sensor grid array to produce a data set; a control system that analyzes the data set to determine at least one damage location of damage to the at least one composite panel, determines a target healing area based on the damage location, and selectively activates and deactivates individual heating elements of the matrix of heating elements to cause localized heating in the target healing area that activates a combination of self-healing mechanisms in the adaptive structure, the combination of self-healing mechanisms comprising shape memory effect and reptation.