Joining and repair of composite

materials

Introduction
Joints are usually avoided in a structure as
good design policy.
In any structure, a joint is the weaker area
and most failures comes from joint.

Disadvantages of joints
A joint is a source of stress concentration.
It creates discontinuity in the load transfer.
The creation of joints is a labor-intensive
process; a special procedure is followed to
make the joint.
Joints add manufacturing time and cost to
the structure

Why joining?
Size limitations imposed by materials or
manufacturing process
The structure may have to be
disassembled for transportation
Access may be required for inspection and
repair
etc

Basic types
Mechanical joints
Bonded joints

Mechanical Joint
Mechanical joints for composites are similar to
the mechanical joints of metals.
In mechanical joints, rivets, bolts, and/or screws
are used to form the joint.
An overlap is required in two mating members
and a hole is created at the overlap so that bolts
or rivets can be inserted
When screw are used for fastening purposes,
mostly metal inserts are used in the composites.

Mechanical joint

Mechanical joint
In bolted joints, nuts, bolts, and washers
are used to create the joint.
In riveting, metal rivets are used
Bolted joints can be a single lap, double
lap, or butt joints

Bolted joints

Single lap joint

Double lap joint

Butt joint

Advantages of
mechanical joints
They allow repeated assembly and
disassembly for repairs and maintenance
without destroying the parent materials.
They offer easy inspection and quality
control.
They require little or no surface
preparation

Disadvantages of
mechanical joints
Mechanical joints add weight to the
structure and thus minimize the weightsaving potential of composite structures.
They create stress concentration because
of the presence of holes. The composite
materials is not as ductile as aluminum or
steel to redistribute local high stress by
yielding.

Disadvantages of
mechanical joints
They create potential galvanic corrosion
problems because of the presence of dissimilar
materials. For example, aluminum or steel
fasteners do not work well with carbon/epoxy
composites. To avoid galvanic corrosion, either
metal fasteners are coated with nonconductive
materials such as a polymer or composite
fastener are used.
They create fiber discontinuity at the location
where a hole is drilled. They also expose fibers
to chemicals and other environments.

Failure modes in a bolted

joint
Failure in a bolted joint may be caused by:

Shearing of the substrate

Tensile failure of the substrate
Crushing failure of the substrate
Cleavage failure in the 0o composite laminate
substrate.
Shearing of the bolt

Crushing failure is the most desirable failure

mode in the joint design. It helps in relieving the
stress concentration around the hole.
Bolt failure are not common because steel
fasteners are very strong in shear.

shear failure

tensile failure

bearing failure

cleavage failure

Bonded joint
Bonded joints can be made by
glueing together pre-cured laminates with a
suitable adhesive or,
by forming joints during the manufacturing
process, in which case the joint and the
laminate are cured at the same time (cocured)

With co-cured joints the adhesive is the

matrix resin of the composite.

Types of bonded joints

Single lap joint

Double lap joint
Bevel joint
Step joint
Butt joint
Scarf joint
Single strap joint
Double strap joint

Types of bonded joints

Advantages of bonding joint

The load at the joint interface is distributed over
an area rather than concentrated at a point. This
results in a more uniform stress distribution.
More resistant to flexural, fatigue, and vibrational
stresses than mechanical joints because of the
uniform stress distribution.
The weight penalty is negligible.
Adhesive not only bonds the two surface but
also seals the joint. The seal prevents galvanic
corrosion between dissimilar materials.

Advantages of bonding joint

can be easily adapted to join irregular
surfaces than mechanical joint.
Provides smooth contours and creates
virtually no change in part dimensions.
This is very important in designing
aerodynamic shapes and in creating good
part aesthetics.
Often less expensive and faster than
mechanical joining.

Disadvantages of adhesive bonding

Usually requires surface preparation
before bonding.
Heat and pressure may be required during
bonding operation. This may limit the part
size if curing needs to be performed in an
oven or autoclave.
With some adhesive, long cure time may
be needed.
Health and safety could be an issue.

Disadvantages of adhesive bonding

Inspection of a bonded joint is difficult
Requires more training and rigid process
control than mechanical joints.
Creates a permanent bond and does not
allow repeated assembly and disassembly.

Failure modes in bonded joint

Adhesive failure: at the interface between
the substrate and the adhesive.
Cohesive failure: in the adhesive or in the
substrate materials, occur when the bond
between the adhesive and the substrate
material is stronger than the internal
strength of the adhesive or substrate
material.

Failure modes bonded joint

Types of adhesives
Two-component mix adhesives
Epoxy adhesives
Polyurethane adhesives

Two-component, no-mix adhesives

Acrylic adhesives
Urethane methacrylate ester (anaerobic) adhesives

One-component adhesives

Epoxies
Polyurethanes
Cyanoacrylates
Hot-melt adhesives
Solvent or water-based adhesives

Introduction
A repair is essentially a joint and it is clear that the
requirements for reparability should be considered at the
outset of a design, to ensure that the component is
reparable.
The objective of a repair is to restore the structural
integrity to a damaged component.
The procedure used will depend on the type of
component, amount of joint efficiency required,
considerations of surface smoothness, and repair
environment.
At a depot facility, major repairs are possible, but at field
position the limits on reparability are much more
restricted

Repair techniques
Bonded repair
Cosmetic repairs
Injection repairs
External patches
Scarf patches

Bolted repair
External patches
Flush patches

Bonded repair
Bonded techniques can be used in
situations which range from cosmetic to
primary structural repairs.
Cosmetic repair is made to restore surface
smoothness. In these repairs, a potting
compound or liquid adhesive is spread
into the damaged area and formed to the
components contour.

Bonded repair
Injection repair is another type of
procedure which is used for minor
disbonds or delaminations.
A number of holes are drilled to the depth of
the damage.
Filler resin is heated to decrease its viscosity
and injected under pressure until the excess
flows out of adjacent holes.
Pressure can be applied to the repaired area.

Bonded repair
If serious damage is encountered, more
rigorous repair procedures must be
employed.
Techniques to repair structural damage:
external patches and scarf patches

Bonded repair
External patch method: applying a piece of
composite to the exterior surface of the
component to be repaired. No attempt is
made to retain a flush finish.
Scarf patch method provides the highest
joint efficiency of any repair technique.

Bonded repair

Bolted repair
Bolted repair can be used in cases where
bonded patch repair of a thick laminate
may result a shear stress beyond the limit
of adhesive strength.
This method is also appropriate when a
bonded scarf approach would be too
complex in terms of preparation and
material removal.