Effect Of Patch Shape On The Repair Efficiency Of A Cracked Aluminum Panel

A 3-D finite element analysis was conducted on a thin aluminum plate with a 45 ° inclined central crack. A modeling of the bonding repair with composite patch of different shapes was carried out. In addition to the patch shapes studied in the literature, a new butterfly shape was proposed. The latter is defined by a length H, a width B and a neck C in the middle. The main objective is to analyze the effect of patch geometry on the rate of decrease of stress intensity factors. This rate is characterized by a coefficient R which combines between the mode I and the mode II of the rupture (KI and KII). Thus, an optimization of the patch shape is made with respect to the effectiveness in decreasing the stress intensity factor. The comparison between the results obtained with the different patch shapes has shown that the butterfly-shaped patch is more effective for relatively small surfaces. On the other hand, the extended octagon shape has been shown to be more effective for higher patch surfaces.