SELECTED U.S. AIR FORCE EFFORTS IN BONDED REPAIR OF AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES

摘要

The U.S. Air Force (USAF) has sponsored several efforts to improve the understanding of bonded repairs, expand their use, and document/standardize their design and application. This presentation will summarize the results of three recent projects. The first project is evaluating the performance of bonded boron/epoxy repairs applied to C-141 transport aircraft wings. These repairs were salvaged from retired airframes and subjected to residual strength testing. The goal is to confirm that the bonded repairs successfully retarded crack growth and preserved the residual strength for a period of up to 15 years in-service. Results will be used to augment bonded repair damage tolerance guidelines. Preliminary data will be presented. A second project concerns the bonded repair of a thick/complex structure on the F-16 fighter aircraft. This repair contains metal-to-metal and composite-to-metal bonds with a health monitoring sensor also bonded to the structure. The design, application, and early service experience of the repair will be reviewed. The final project is focused on incorporating design, analysis, materials, and processing information into a set of formal guidelines. The four-part Bonded Repair Capability Enhancements program will result in the USAF’s most completely documented bonded repair information to date. The presentation will review this effort which is due to be completed by the end of CY06.