Analysis of Inclined Crack in Aluminium Alloy Plate Subjected to Three-Point Bending Load Repaired with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer

Abstract

If the attention is not paid to the crack in a structure, then it could suddenly propagate at a rapid rate and rip apart the structures. A small crack needs urgent attention and repair since replacing the parts with a small crack is not economically feasible at all the time. Repairs were used to be carried out through rivets, welding and nut-bolts, but recently composite materials are showing promising results in this field. Since composite material are anisotropic in nature their application needs careful study about the loading pattern on the repaired structure. In this study, Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) was used as a composite material to repair Aluminium alloy specimens. These specimen were subjected to a three-point bending load to investigate the effectiveness of CFRP. By using innovative ply drop technique and design of experiment a configuration was selected to sustain three-point bending load. To suppress the CFRP’s peeling off tendency, attention was given to the interfacial shear stress rather than to the fracture toughness parameter.