Effect of Patching on Charpy Impact Response of Repaired Notched Plate – Experimental Study

Abstract

Charpy impact tests were conducted on repaired notched aluminum specimens and the absorbed energy and fracture behavior of the specimens were investigated. The aluminum specimens contained a single-edge notch and were repaired with a metal sheet, composite, and fibre metal laminate (FML) hybrid composite patches on one of the side faces of the specimens. Some of the specimens were repaired on two sides. A metal sheet, laminated glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP), and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite and FML patches with three and five layers were used to repair the aluminum specimens. The metal patches were made by phosphor-bronze, the composite patches were composed of woven glass and woven carbon fibre laminates, and the FML patches were fabricated from a combination of woven glass or woven carbon fibre laminates with phosphor-bronze metal sheet. The aluminum specimens had three different notch lengths. The results showed that the specimens repaired with FML patches of the same number of layers, irrespective of fibre type, absorbed almost the same energy level. The results also showed that the notched specimens repaired with single and double-sided FML patches with carbon fibre absorbed more energy than the other specimens. Generally, as the notch length increased, the absorbed energy by the notched aluminum specimen with or without any patch decreased. The effective role of patching in the repaired specimens was found to be substantial with the bigger notch lengths.