TY - JOUR
T1 - Fatigue life improvement of cracked aluminum 6061‐T6 plates repaired by composite patches
AU - Yousefi, Armin
AU - Jolaiy, Saman
AU - Hedayati, Reza
AU - Serjouei, Ahmad
AU - Bodaghi, Mahdi
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Bonded patches are widely used in several industry sectors for repairing damaged plates, cracks in metallic structures, and reinforcement of damaged structures. Composite patches have optimal properties such as high strength‐to‐weight ratio, easiness in being applied, and high flexibility. Due to recent rapid growth in the aerospace industry, analyses of adhesively bonded patches applicable to repairing cracked structures have become of great significance. In the present study, the fatigue behavior of the aluminum alloy, repaired by a double‐sided glass/epoxy composite patch, is studied numerically. More specifically, the effect of applying a double‐sided composite patch on the fatigue life improvement of a damaged aluminum 6061‐T6 is analyzed. 3D finite element numerical modeling is performed to analyze the fatigue performance of both repaired and unrepaired aluminum plates using the Abaqus package. To determine the fatigue life of the aluminum 6061‐T6 plate, first, the hysteresis loop is determined, and afterward, the plastic strain amplitude is calculated. Finally, by using the Coffin‐Manson equation, fatigue life is predicted and validated against the available experimental data from the literature. Results reveal that composite patches increase the fatigue life of cracked structures significantly, ranging from 55% to 100% for different applied stresses.
AB - Bonded patches are widely used in several industry sectors for repairing damaged plates, cracks in metallic structures, and reinforcement of damaged structures. Composite patches have optimal properties such as high strength‐to‐weight ratio, easiness in being applied, and high flexibility. Due to recent rapid growth in the aerospace industry, analyses of adhesively bonded patches applicable to repairing cracked structures have become of great significance. In the present study, the fatigue behavior of the aluminum alloy, repaired by a double‐sided glass/epoxy composite patch, is studied numerically. More specifically, the effect of applying a double‐sided composite patch on the fatigue life improvement of a damaged aluminum 6061‐T6 is analyzed. 3D finite element numerical modeling is performed to analyze the fatigue performance of both repaired and unrepaired aluminum plates using the Abaqus package. To determine the fatigue life of the aluminum 6061‐T6 plate, first, the hysteresis loop is determined, and afterward, the plastic strain amplitude is calculated. Finally, by using the Coffin‐Manson equation, fatigue life is predicted and validated against the available experimental data from the literature. Results reveal that composite patches increase the fatigue life of cracked structures significantly, ranging from 55% to 100% for different applied stresses.
KW - Aluminum 6061‐T6
KW - Composite patch
KW - Fatigue life
KW - Finite element modeling
KW - Plasticity
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85103122361&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ma14061421
DO - 10.3390/ma14061421
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85103122361
SN - 1996-1944
VL - 14
JO - Materials
JF - Materials
IS - 6
M1 - 1421
ER -