Reinforcement of partially cured aerospace structures with B-staged patches

Research output: Contribution to conferenceAbstractScientific

2 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This research presents analytical models to describe the cure kinetics of an epoxy resin, and then implements the models to create partially cured carbon fibre reinforced polymer structures that have been locally reinforced. A full process for co-curing B-staged composite parts was developed, including cure kinetic and glass transition modelling of the curing reaction of the epoxy resin, simulation of curing cycles, development of the tools and optimisation of the process. A 50 % improvement in the bearing load was achieved with the B-stage patch and reinforcement co-cure solution that is proposed. Moreover, the bearing strength was found to more than double with the incorporation of steel foils into the bearing region of the structure. The development of these models, and the promising results show that increased bearing performance may be achieved whilst still meeting stringent qualification regulations for commercial aviation application using this processing technique.

Original languageEnglish
Number of pages1
Publication statusPublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes
Event16th European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM 2014 - Seville, spain, Seville, Spain
Duration: 22 Jun 201426 Jun 2014
Conference number: 16

Conference

Conference16th European Conference on Composite Materials, ECCM 2014
Abbreviated titleECCM 2014
Country/TerritorySpain
CitySeville
Period22/06/1426/06/14

Keywords

  • B-stage cure
  • Bearing reinforcement
  • Cure kinetic modelling of epoxy resins
  • RTM 6

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Reinforcement of partially cured aerospace structures with B-staged patches'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this