Numerical Investigation of the Adhesive Damage Used for the Repair of A5083 H11 Aluminum Structures by Composites Patches

Abstract

In addition of binding the patch to the cracked material, adhesives play an important role in bonded composite repair because they make the bridge of transfer of loads between the patch and the cracked material. Indeed, any damage in adhesives will affect the efficiency and the performance of the repaired structure by composite patches.In this paper, two different adhesive shapes were numerically investigated, using finite element method in order to estimate the damage zone area on the adhesive bonded composite repair in 5083 marine grade aluminum alloy and its effect on the efficiency and performance of the repaired structure. The obtained results proved that the circular shape causes less damage than the rectangular one for the three crack lengths chosen. Moreover, both shapes of adhesive maintain their performance repair without disband risk and without reaching the critical value defined by Ban and co-authors (Dr=0.2474). Furthermore, it is concluded that the damage zone increases with the increase of the adhesive thickness and the decrease of the patch thickness and the use of circular shape is more effective than the rectangular one for the configurations and loading conditions studied.