Moisture effects on patch bonded composite repairs

• Main Authors: Wong, K. J., Gong, X. J., Aivazzadeh, S., Tamin, M. N.
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Published: Trans Tech Publications Ltd 2016
• Subjects: TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/id/eprint/73694/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-84988958566&doi=10.4028%2fwww.scientific.net%2fKEM.709.3&partnerID=40&md5=6a05c088704ee9ce66e7c97b5c18da37

The present work investigated the effects of moisture absorption on the residual tensile strength of unnotched, notched and double-patch repaired carbon/epoxy composites. Patches were bonded to the parent plate using Araldite2015 adhesive. Specimens were aged in demineralised water at 70°C and tested at moisture content of 0% (dry), 3%, 6% and 7%. Results showed that upon ageing, a maximum of 11% and 17% of strength reduction was found in unnotched and repaired specimens, respectively. On the contrary, a maximum of 15% increment in strength was observed in notched specimens. In addition, good fits to the experimental data were found using the proposed residual strength model, with the maximum difference of less than 6%.