

Development of an Analysis Tool for the Design of Bonded Composite Repairs
Abstract
Composite structures are increasingly finding more applications in various fields thanks to their lower weight if compared with other materials of the same strength; this is especially true in the aeronautical field for both military and civil aircraft, as well as for rotorcraft, where composites can be employed as primary and secondary structure in the form of monolithic and sandwich structures. On damage detection, the possibility to scrap the component or repair the damage is evaluated. This decision is determined by several considerations, like the repair costs, position and accessibility of the damaged area. The repair needed to restore the original components stiffness and strength characteristics should be chosen accordingly to specific procedures taking into account the damage typology and the damaged component. Generally, the repair procedures are listed in a Structural Repair Manual (SRM) that should also provide information on the maximum repairable damage for each component. In this paper, a repair design tool implemented in Matlab is proposed. The tool is able to suggest different repair typologies and to choose the proper repair size by performing optimization analyses oriented to best repair solution in terms of adhesive shear stress and length of repair patch.