Abstract
In this work, the principles of damage/healing mechanics are first reviewed. This is followed by introducing the concept of super healing of materials in the framework of continuum damage mechanics. Once a damaged material is healed and the damage is recovered, further healing results in a strengthened material. This process of added healing beyond what is necessary to recover damage is termed here super healing. In super healing, the material gains stiffness and the end and final objective of the super healing process is to reach what is called the Super Material. The second part of this work generalizes these concepts to anisotropic damage and healing of materials. The concept of anisotropic super healing is also introduced. An example is presented for the case of plane stress where the mechanics of damage/healing and super healing are demonstrated. Finally, the characteristics of the elusive Super Material are postulated.
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