Study of CFRP adhesive bonds influenced by factors encountered during aircraft operations

Composite materials are commonly used in many branches of industry. One of the effective methods to join CFRP parts is to use adhesives. There is a search of effective methods for quality assurance of bonded parts. There is a need for pre- and post-bond inspection to ensure proper bonding and verify its quality. Research reported here focuses on post-bond inspection of bonded CFRP parts. In this paper we report investigations of samples that were modified in order to simulate the conditions that can be encountered during the bonding repair processes. The modifications were made before adhesive bonding, and their effect on the quality of the bond is studied. The first case was the thermal treatment. It was made by exposure of samples to elevated temperatures. This case accounts for parts that may be exposed to external heat source or lightening impact. Second of the investigated cases was deicing fluid contamination prepared by dip-coating of clean CFRP plates. When cleaning the aircraft for a repair this fluid can be transported to bonding areas and weaken the joint. The third type of modification was faulty curing of the adhesive. It was prepared by local pre-curing of the adhesive. Pre-curing causes irregularities in the curing of the adhesive joint. Apart from single modifications, also mixed cases were studied, as well as scarf bonding. The samples were studied in non-destructive approach. It was shown that for some of the cases the detection is possible.© (2018) COPYRIGHT Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). Citation: Pawel H. Malinowski, Tomasz Wandowski, Wieslaw M. Ostachowicz, Angelos Christopoulos, Ilias Koulalis, Konstantinos Kitsianos, George Kanterakis, Romain Ecault, Rainer Stoessel, Damien Segur, Laurent Berthe, Maxime Sagnard, Fabienne Touchard, Michel Boustie, Welchy Leite Cavalcanti, Kai Brune, "Study of CFRP adhesive bonds influenced by factors encountered during aircraft operations", Proc. SPIE 10598, Sensors and Smart Structures Technologies for Civil, Mechanical, and Aerospace Systems 2018, 105980C (27 March 2018); doi: 10.1117/12.2294616; https://doi.org/10.1117/12.229461