Reinforcement of Metallic Plates with Composite Materials

Abstract

The main aim of this research is to study the reinforcement of cracked metallic plates with carbon/epoxy composite materials. In order to simulate the mechanical behavior of the cracked aluminum plate, a closed-form solution and MSC/Nastran finite element package is used. Considering the size and position of the crack, the number of layers and the fiber orientation for each layer of the composite material patch are obtained. Also, the suitable area of the patch for reinforcement of the cracked plate is studied. The results of the analysis show that the magnitude of stresses in the cracked area after reinforcement decreases dramatically. Therefore, the cracked plate is successfully reinforced by using composite patches. The strength of the aluminum plate reinforced with composite patch under static loading condition is studied. To evaluate the results of the analysis, an experimental program is conducted. The results of experiments show a very good agreement with the results obtained by the closed-form solution and the finite element analysis. The aluminum plate is reinforced on one side. Therefore an unsymmetrical reinforcement is obtained. This type of reinforcement is applicable for plates having only one side available for repair. In order to avoid galvanic corrosion between the carbon/epoxy composite and the aluminum plate, one layer of glass/epoxy composite is used as the first layer.