F-111 Adhesive Bonded Repairs Assessment Program - Progress Report 2: Analysis of FM300-2K Repairs.

摘要

It is estimated that over 5,000 adhesively bonded repairs (ABRs) have been applied to the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) F-111 aircraft over the last twenty five years, mainly to honeycomb sandwich panels. Retirement of the fleet in December 2010 presented a unique opportunity to evaluate the integrity of a large number of airworthy ABRs. Consequently, DSTO in partnership with the RAAF, through ASI at DGTA and with the assistance of Boeing Australia developed a program to assess the condition of the F-111 ABRs. The F-111 Adhesive Bonded Repair Assessment Program (FABRAP) was established in mid 2010 and initial field testing was carried out from October 2010. The current report provides an update on the analysis of the results from the field level testing undertaken between October 2010 and July 2012 on repairs to honeycomb structure which used FM300-2K adhesive and RAAF approved surface treatments and application procedures. The investigation indicates that when repairs were applied according to RAAF procedures and with qualified technicians in fit-for-purpose facilities, that bond strength did not degrade as a result of either long term environmental exposure or service exposure or both.