Design and performance of bonded patch repairs of composite structures

The compressive behaviour of bonded patch repaired composite laminates is examined. A non-linear stress analysis is performed on a double-lap joint in order to identify critical joint parameters and design an efficient external patch repair. It is found that oversized patches not only increase the structure's weight but also increase the stress concentrations in the repaired region which can cause premature failure. Reducing the patch thickness near the edges of the overlap and increasing the local adhesive thickness decreases the stress concentration in both shear and peel stresses. A three-dimensional finite element analysis is then performed to determine the stresses in the optimum repaired configuration and is used with a stress failure criterion to predict the ultimate failure load. Experimental measurements show that carefully designed bonded patch repairs can recover almost 80 per cent of the undamaged laminate strength. © IMechE 1997.