• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.82 no.1
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• pp.17-30
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• 2022

The use of composite patches for the reduction of stresses at the level of the damaged zone in aeronautical structures has experienced rapid expansion given its advantages over conventional mechanical processes (riveting, bolting, etc.). Initially, The research axes in this field were aimed at choosing suitable mechanical properties for the composite and the adhesive, then to optimize the shape of the composite patch in order to ensure good load transfer and avoid having a debonding at the level of the edges essentially for the case of a repair by single side where the bending moment is present due to the non-symmetry of the structure. Our work falls within this context; the objective is to analyze by the finite element method the fracture behavior of a damaged plate repaired by composite patch. Stress reduction at the edge is accomplished by creating a variable angle chamfer on the composite patch. The effects of the crack length, the laminate sequence and the nature of the patch as well as the use of a hybrid patch were investigated. The results show clearly that a beveled patch reduces the stress concentrations in the damaged area and even at its edges. The hybrid patch also ensures good durability of the repair by optimizing its stacking sequence and the location of the different layers according to the fibers orientations.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.20-26
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• 2023

Fiber-reinforced composite materials with carbon, glass, and aramid fibers are widely applied to industrial field structures due to their excellent properties. However, carbon fibers are vulnerable to external impacts, whereas aramid fibers degrade when exposed to water. This study evaluated carbon/aramid fiber composites degraded and damaged by high-temperature saline environments using acoustic emission (AE). The test specimen was molded using an autoclave and immersed in seawater at 70 ℃ for 224 days. In order to imitate the damage, a 3-mm-diameter hole was drilled using a diamond drill. Additionally, the specimen with the perforation was repaired by patch attachment processing. Three-point bending was used to conduct the flexural experiment, and an AE sensor with a 150-kHz resonance frequency was attached to evaluate the damage and the effect of patch attachment. AE accumulative counts obtained at the maximum load were 69.2, 67.1, and 91.2 for a high-temperature seawater deteriorated condition, a hole specimen, and a repaired patch specimen, respectively. Furthermore, the maximum amplitude of AE was detected at low values of 28 dB, 31.3 dB, and 30.3 dB.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society For Composite Materials Conference
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• 2000.11a
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• pp.115-118
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• 2000

The development of high-strength fibers such as boron/epoxy and carbon/epoxy and adhesives has made it possible to repair cracked metallic plates by bonding reinforcing patches to the plate over the crack. In this study, aluminum 6061-T6 alloy plates with the high strength are applied to specimens with a cracked bolt hole to study the effect of diverse patch materials on the fatigue behavior of this structure. Additionally, the observation of the effort of different patch sizes on the specimen was performed. The results shows that the patch repair can improve the static strength by about 17% and the fatigue life by 200% compared with non-repaired case. And it was also revealed that the patching method along to crack growth direction is mort efficient in cost and weight reduction.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.951-962
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• 2016

The determination of the stress intensity factor at the crack tip is one of the most widely used methods to predict the fatigue life of aircraft structures. This prediction is more complicated for repaired cracks with bonded composite patch. This study is used to compute the stress intensity factor (SIF) and crack opening displacement (COD) for cracks repaired with single and double-sided composite patches. The effect of the presence of disbond region in adhesive at the crack was taken into consideration. The results show that there is a considerable reduction in the asymptotic value of the stress-intensity factors and the crack opening displacement at the crack tip. The use of a double-sided patch suppresses the bending effect due to the eccentricity of the patch on one side only.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Nondestructive Testing
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• v.27 no.1
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• pp.48-57
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• 2007

The fatigue crack growth behavior of a cracked and patch-repaired Ah2024-T3 panel has been monitored by acoustic emission(AE). The overall crack growth rate was reduced The crack propagation into the adjacent hole was also retarded by introducing the patch repair. AE signals due to crack growth after the patch repair and those due to debonding of the plate-patch interface were discriminated by usiag the principal component analysis. The former showed high center frequency and low amplitude, whereas the latter showed long rise tine, low frequency and high amplitude. This type of AE signal recognition method could be effective for the prediction of fatigue crack growth behavior in the patch-repaired structures with the aid of AE source location.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.151-168
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• 2020

The present study deals with the repair of composite structures by bonding composite patches. The composite structure is a carbon/epoxy laminate with stacking sequence [45/-45/0/90]S. The damaged zone is simulated by a central crack and repaired by bonding symmetrical composite patches. The repair is carried out using composite patches laminated from the same elemental folds as those of the cracked specimen. Three-dimensional finite element method is used to determine the energy release rate along the front of repaired crack. The effects of the repair technique used single or double patch, the stacking sequence of the cracked composite patch and the adhesive properties were highlighted on the variations of the fracture energy in mode I and mixed mode I + II loading.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.127-139
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• 2019

Bridges, offshore oil platforms and other infrastructures usually require at some point in their service life rehabilitation for reasons such as aging and corrosion. This study explores the application of adhesively bonded CFRP patches in repair of corroded circular hollow sectional (CHS) steel beams. An experimental program involving three-point bending tests was conducted on intact, corroded, and repaired CHS beams. Meso-scale finite element (FE) models of the tested beams were developed and validated by the experimental results. A parametric study using the validated FE models was performed to examine the effects of different CFRP patch parameters, including patch dimensions, number of plies and stacking sequence, on efficiency of the repair system. Results indicates that the corrosion reduced elastic stiffness and flexural strength of the undamaged beam by 8.9 and 15.1%, respectively, and composite repair recovered 10.7 and 18.9% of those, respectively, compared to undamaged beam. These findings demonstrated the ability of CFRP patch repair to restore full bending capacity of the corroded CHS steel beam. The parametric study revealed that strength and stiffness of the repaired CHS beam can be enhanced by changing the fiber orientations of wet composite patch without increasing the quantity of repair materials.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.50 no.4
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• pp.525-539
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• 2014

Bonded composite-patch repair has been widely used to restore or extend the service life of damaged structures due to its effectiveness as a mechanical repair technique. In this paper using extended finite element method (XFEM), three-dimensional crack models are developed to examine the fracture behavior of centrally cracked aluminum plates repaired with single and double sided composite patches. Stress intensity factor (SIF) at the crack tip is used as the fracture criterion. In this regard, the effects of the crack lengths, patch materials, orientation of plies, adhesive and patch thickness are examined to estimate the SIF of the repaired plate and the repair performance. The obtained results show that composite patches have significant effect on reduction of the SIF at the crack tip. It is also proved that using double symmetric repair, in comparison to single one, reduces considerably SIF at the crack tip. Hence, the residual strength can be improved significantly as well as fatigue life of the structure. Investigation of ply orientation effects shows SIF increase as the ply orientation is changed from $0^{\circ}$ (perpendicular to the advancing crack) to $90^{\circ}$ (parallel to the crack line). However, the effectiveness of the ply orientation depends on the loading direction and the crack direction.

• Advances in aircraft and spacecraft science
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• v.4 no.6
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• pp.679-699
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• 2017

The aim of this study is to perform a finite element analysis of the Von Mises stresses distribution in the adhesive layer and of the J-Integral for a damaged plate repaired by a composite patch. Firstly, we study the effect of the fiber orientation, especially the position of the layers that have orientation angle different of $0^{\circ}$ from the first layer which is in all cases of our study oriented at ($0^{\circ}$) on the J-Integral. Secondly, we evaluate the effects of the mechanical properties of the patch and the use of a hybrid patch on the reduction of stresses distribution and J-Integral. The results show clearly that the stacking sequence for the composite patch must be selected to absorb optimally the stresses from the damaged area and to position the various layers of the composite under the first layer whose fibers orientation will remain in all cases equal to $0^{\circ}$. The use of a hybrid composite reduces significantly the J-Integral and the stresses in both damaged plate and the adhesive layer.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers A
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• v.24 no.9 s.180
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• pp.2246-2251
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• 2000

Adhesive bonding repair methods has been used for a number of decades for construction of damaged structures. In order to evaluate the life of cracked aging aircraft structures, the repair technique which uses adhesively bonded boron/epoxy composite patches is being widely considered as a cost-effective and reliable method. But, this repair method contains many shortcomings. One of these shortcomings, debonding is major issue. When the adhesive shear stress increases, debonding is caused at the end of patch and plate interface. And this debonding is another defect except cracks propagation. In this paper, we assess safety at the cracked AI-plate repaired by Br/Epoxy composite patch. Firstly, from the view of fracture mechanics, reduction of stress intensity factors is determined by the variety of patch feature. Secondly, using the elastic analysis and finite element analysis, the distribution of adhesive shear stresses is acquired. Finally, The problem of how to optimize the geometric configurations of the patch has been discussed.