Review of RAAF Procedures for Qualifying Bonded Repair Technicians

摘要

DSTO has recently undertaken a review of procedures employed by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Bonded Structures and Testing Team (BSTT) during testing and requalification of technicians who undertake bonded repairs on ADF aircraft. Currently, technicians are required to produce a bonded wedge test under examination from BSTT staff and, based on adherence to the current RAAF Engineering Standard, will be considered competent to undertake bonded repairs. From December 2001 to January 2004 a notable deterioration in the quality of the bonded wedge tests produced through qualification testing was observed and an audit of processes was undertaken to determine if any areas in bonding and requalification testing may have been leading to the deterioration in quality. Based on an audit of the processes and subsequent experimental testing at DSTO, recommendations on improvements to bonding procedures have been made.