Self-warning hybrid composite patches for repairing cracked aluminium panels

Jalalvand, Meisam and Lok Wu, Hon Wing Michael and Sheibanian, Fariborz and Fotouhi, Mohamad and Wisnom, Michael R.; (2018) Self-warning hybrid composite patches for repairing cracked aluminium panels. In: ECCM18 - 18th European Conference on Composite Materials. European Society for Composite Materials.

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Abstract

In this paper, a new concept for health-monitoring of bonded patch repairs is presented. Aerospace structures using aluminium panels occasionally crack and bonded composite patches are one of the repair methods available to maintain the integrity of the structure. Further damage beneath the repair patch cannot be monitored from simple visual inspection alone with standard repair techniques. The new proposed health-monitoring technique is based on the novel concept of overload sensors using hybrid composites, and has great potential for monitoring crack propagation in the main aluminium substrate, allowing passive, reliable and easy structural inspection to be achieved.