“Fun fact: some things really are as complicated as they seem.”, COATHEAL team
COATHEAL experiment
COATHEAL is a BEXUS experiment designed to evaluate the performance of self-healing protective coatings under stratospheric environmental conditions. The experiment investigates whether an epoxy coating containing microcapsules filled with a healing agent can autonomously fill microscopic cracks in an aluminium substrate after exposure to low temperatures, reduced atmospheric pressure and increased ultraviolet radiation.
The objective is to assess the coating’s ability to maintain its protective properties in a near-space environment and provide experimental data that can support the development of more durable materials for future aerospace applications.
The payload consists of eight aluminium specimens, six of which are coated, mounted inside a dedicated experimental module flown aboard the BEXUS balloon. Each coated specimen has an epoxy coating containing microcapsules and an embedded catalyst that initiates the self-healing process when cracks form.
A thin titanium monitoring layer deposited beneath the coating acts as an integrated sensing element, allowing changes in electrical resistance to be measured as damage develops. Mechanical stress is applied by bending the samples with stepper motor-driven ball screws to cause microcrack propagation. The electronics compartment is thermally insulated from the lateral panels using extruded polystyrene.
During the flight, the payload continuously records temperature, pressure and ultraviolet radiation while monitoring the resistance of each sensing layer to correlate the observed healing effect with logged environmental data. The experiment is remotely operated throughout the mission and autonomously monitors the environment, with all measurements stored for post-flight analysis and comparison with laboratory testing.
The COATHEAL team
The COATHEAL team consists of 13 students from the National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest, Military Technical Academy Ferdinand I, University of Bucharest, Technical University Gheorghe Asachi Iasi.
Team members come from different disciplines, including aerospace engineering, industrial robotics, materials science, chemistry, electronics and cybersecurity. The project is organised into several technical subsystems: mechanics, electronics, software, materials, testing and outreach.
Working on COATHEAL has given us the opportunity to experience every stage of developing a real flight experiment, from the initial concept and system design to manufacturing, integration and verification within the REXUS/BEXUS Programme.
COATHEAL in a nutshell
| Experiment | COATHEAL |
| Objective | To evaluate the in-flight healing behaviour of microencapsulated self-healing polymer coatings exposed to the stratospheric environment. |
| University, country | National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, Romania Military Technical Academy Ferdinand I University of Bucharest, Romania Technical University Gheorghe Asachi Iasi, Romania |
| Social media | COATHEAL on Instagram COATHEAL on LinkedIn |
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