H.M. Chong, Z.A. Wu, S.P. Ng, A.S. Subramanian, T. Liu, S. Feih, Influence of double vacuum debulking process on co-cured soft-patch carbon fibre composite repairs, Composites Part B: Engineering, Volume 168, 2019, Pages 367-374, ISSN 1359-8368, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2019.03.051.
Abstract:
Reliable composite repair processes are a necessity to support the operation of next generation lightweight
commercial aircraft. In-situ soft patch repairs of aerospace structures made from carbon fibre reinforced polymers require curing of conventional autoclave prepreg materials in an out-of-autoclave environment, which can result in poor repair quality. We demonstrate that the use of a double vacuum debulking (DVD) pre-curing step for soft patch repairs can essentially achieve void-free repairs for prepreg materials with moderate to high
solvent residue. Porosity reductions translated into an increase in flexural and interlaminar strength properties of 7.3% and 14.8%, respectively. The repair quality improvement due to void reduction in both soft patch and
adhesive film resulted in a 19% increase in tensile repair strength. The work presented demonstrates the need to include a DVD pre-curing step to achieve the stringent manufacturers' repair porosity limits and performance
requirements for highly loaded composite aircraft structures.
License type:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Funding Info:
This research was funded by the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Singapore (SERC Grant no. 112 155 0819).