Effect of bonded composite patch on the stress intensity factor for a centercracked plate

Abstract

Crack propagation until fracture is an important criterion to predict a structure's service life. In order to increase the latter, the cracked component needs to be repaired or replaced. In the present study, a finite element analysis has been carried out to investigate the effects of adhesive thickness, patch thickness and crack length on the passive repair performance of a center-cracked rectangular aluminum plate under mode-I loading condition using finite element ANSYS package. A comprehensive parametric study shows that the stress intensity factor is influenced by the patch thickness, patch size, adhesive material, and adhesive thickness.