Analytical and numerical study concerning the behaviour of single-sided bonded patch repairs

Abstract

Adhesive bonded joints are used in the assembling of structural parts, especially of those which are made from dissimilar materials. Lightweight fibre reinforced polymer composites and other adhesive bonded components represent a major proportion of a modern aircraft. Bonded patch repair technology has been widely used to repair cracked thin-walled structures to extend their service life, because a correctly executed repair significantly enhances the structural performance.In practice, the single-sided bonded patch repair is the most used because a good solution like the double-sided repair may not be an option if the access to the structure is only available from one side.This paper presents a relatively simple and effective design procedure for the single strapped bonded joints. Also, the influence of various geometrical parameters of the joint is evaluated. The analytical development is validated based on nonlinear finite element analyses.

Keywords

• analytical and numerical study
• single-sided patch repairs
• design procedure