Analysis of the plastic zone size ahead of repaired cracks with bonded composite patch of metallic aircraft structures

In this study, the three-dimensional and non-linear finite element method is used to estimate the performance of the bonded composite repair of metallic aircraft structures by analyzing the plastic zone size ahead of repaired cracks. Several calculations have been realized to extract the plasticized elements around the crack tip of repaired crack. The obtained results show that the presence of the composite patch reduces considerably the size of the plastic zone ahead of the crack. The effects of the adhesive properties and the patch thickness on the plastic zone size ahead of repaired cracks were analyzed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.