Influence of double vacuum debulking process on co-cured soft-patch carbon fibre composite repairs

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Chong, HM
Wu, ZA
Ng, SP
Subramanian, AS
Liu, T
Feih, S
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2019
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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.

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Composites Part B: Engineering

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168

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Engineering

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Chong, HM; Wu, ZA; Ng, SP; Subramanian, AS; Liu, T; Feih, S, Influence of double vacuum debulking process on co-cured soft-patch carbon fibre composite repairs, Composites Part B: Engineering, 2019, 168, pp. 367-374

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