INVESTIGATING THE EFFECTS OF FLUIDS ON CARBON FIBER AIRCRAFT STRUCTURES

摘要

All composite aircraft are scheduled to enter revenue service in the near future, and themaintainability and environmental exposure of these aircraft needs to be understood. This studyinvestigated if fluids used in aircraft that could spill on the aircraft structure such as hydraulicfluid, engine oil, fuel, and urine affected the mechanical properties of the composite aircraftstructure. Urine was chosen because it often causes severe corrosion problems in metal aircraftbelow the lavatories, and the researchers were interested to find out how urine affected thecomposite structure. Two types of test specimens were prepared: the first type consisted of anone piece three inch wide sample, the second type consisted of a three inch wide sample that wasmade up of two pieces that were joined with film adhesive to test if the fluids affected thebonded area. The test specimens were weighed before and after the exposure to the fluid. Thesamples were tested after predetermined intervals of 30, 60, and 90 days. After the samples wereremoved from the fluids, they were weighed and a tensile test was performed to determine themechanical properties. The test results were analyzed and the data was recorded.