Effect of Intra-Ply Hybrid Patches and Hydrothermal Aging on Local Bending Response of Repaired GFRP Composite Laminates

J Jefferson Andrew,Vellayaraj Arumugam,Hom N Dhakal

doi:10.3390/molecules25102325

J Jefferson Andrew, Vellayaraj Arumugam + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules25102325

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Abstract

This study investigates the influence of intra-ply hybrid patches and hydrothermal aging on the indentation properties of patch repaired GFRP composites. Fabrics with various proportions of glass and Kevlar fibers were employed as the patches to achieve enhanced mechanical properties by hybridizing Kevlar and glass fibers together. Hydrothermal aging behavior of repaired composite laminates modified with water-resistant glass fibers in the outer layers was further investigated. Specimens were immersed in an environmental chamber containing seawater at temperatures of 30 (ambient), 50, and 70 °C until up to saturation. Damage mechanisms of repaired laminates were monitored using real-time acoustic emission (AE) technique. The experimental results showed that specimens repaired with 50G:50K patches offered superior performance than the virgin specimens. The hydrothermal aging effect on indentation behavior of the modified repaired specimens showed a considerable reduction in indentation properties, with higher strength retention exhibited by the repaired specimens modified with chopped glass fibers compared to the particulate fibers.

Highlights

The interest in employing patch repairs in laminated composites has considerably raised in recent years [1,2,3], especially in the automotive, aerospace and marine applications
The acoustic emission (AE) technique has been used by several researchers for the real-time monitoring of repaired laminates [38,39,40,41]. This present study is an extension of our previous work that investigated the mechanical response of damaged GFRP laminates repaired using hybrid patches [35]. This present study aims at investigating the effect of intra-ply hybrid patches and hydrothermal aging on the indentation properties of patch repairs in damaged GFRP laminates
Load-displacement plots of different specimens subjected to cyclic indentation tests are shown

Summary

Introduction

The interest in employing patch repairs in laminated composites has considerably raised in recent years [1,2,3], especially in the automotive, aerospace and marine applications. Compared to mechanical fastener repair, adhesively bonded repair has improved structural integrity, excellent specific mechanical properties [4], superior fatigue behavior, low fabrication cost and high corrosion resistance [5,6]. Unidirectional patches are employed in most of the applications as they reveal high axial or in-plane mechanical response. Unidirectional fibers have a low resistance to transverse or out-of-plane indentation loads [5,9,10,11]. This drawback can discard their use in some applications. For indentation loads, the bidirectional fibers are chosen over unidirectional ones due to their superior

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