The Future of Composite Repairs

http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/jsp_includes/articlePrint.jsp?storyID=news/om/2010/07/01/OM_07_01_2010_p31-233712.xml&headLine=null


Despite being used on primary aircraft parts since 1985, composite repair processes have changed little, and the preference for bolted repairs—metal patches on top of damaged composite—remains. That said, efforts to develop bonded repairs are ongoing, but they continue to be constrained by the quality control of the bonding.


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Boeing also is making efforts to ensure that major structural repairs on the 787 are not limited to bolted ones. Hale says some very large, thick skin patches up to 1 sq. meter have been specifically designed and tested for bonded repairs.

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LHT’s Sauer believes the long-term trend will move towards reliable, smart repairs for the field, such as low temperature curing that is easy to perform without large investments.


According to Roland Thevenin, senior composites expert at Airbus, this also applies to manufacturing processes where bonding processes still cannot be controlled in the precise way desired.