Focused laboratory testing was conducted to compliment the field data and to address specific issues regarding damage tolerance and flaw growth in composite doubler repairs. This report presents the array of engineering activities that were completed in order to make this technology available for widespread commercial aircraft use.
These commercial aircraft repairs are not more » only demonstrating the engineering and economic advantages of composite doubler technology but they are also establishing the ability of commercial maintenance depots to safely adopt this repair technique. As composite doubler repairs gradually appear in the commercial aircraft arena, successful flight operation data is being accumulated. This project focused on repair of DC-10 fuselage structure and its primary goal was to demonstrate routine use of this repair technology using niche applications that streamline the design-to-installation process. The FAA's Airworthiness Assurance Center at Sandia National Labs (AANC), Boeing, and Federal Express completed a pilot program to validate and introduce composite doubler repair technology to the U.S. Instead of riveting multiple steel or aluminum plates to facilitate an aircraft repair, it is now possible to bond a single Boron-Epoxy composite doubler to the damaged structure. The use of bonded composite doublers offers the airframe manufacturers and aircraft maintenance facilities a cost effective method to safely extend the lives of their aircraft. Economic barriers to the purchase of new aircraft have placed even greater demands on efficient and safe repair methods. An unavoidable by-product of aircraft use is that crack, impact, and corrosion flaws develop throughout the aircraft's skin and substructure elements. A typical aircraft can experience over 2,000 fatigue cycles (cabin pressurizations) and even greater flight hours in a single year.
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