ARTICLE IN PRESS

International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives 29 (2009) 678686

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijadhadh

Tensile behaviour of three-dimensional carbon-epoxy adhesively bonded

single- and double-strap repairs
R.D.S.G. Campilho a,, M.F.S.F. de Moura a, D.A. Ramantani a, J.J.L. Morais b, J.J.M.S. Domingues c
a
Departamento de Engenharia Mecanica e Gestao Industrial, Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto, Rua Dr. Roberto Frias, s/n, 4200-465 Porto, Portugal
b
CITAB/UTAD, Departamento de Engenharias, Quinta de Prados, 5001-801 Vila Real, Portugal
c
Departamento de Engenharia Mecanica, Instituto Superior de Engenharia do Porto, Rua Dr. Antonio Bernardino de Almeida, 431, 4200-072 Porto, Portugal

a r t i c l e in f o a b s t r a c t

Available online 6 March 2009 An experimental and numerical study of the tensile behaviour of three-dimensional carbon-epoxy
Keywords: adhesively bonded strap repairs is presented. Experimentally, the failure mode, elastic stiffness and
S. Composites strength were evaluated for different overlap lengths and patch thicknesses. The numerical simulations,
M. Finite element stress analysis performed in ABAQUSs, allowed obtaining the elastic stiffness and the patch debonding load, used to
M. Repair understand the repairs behaviour. The adhesive layer was simulated with cohesive elements including a
mixed-mode cohesive damage model with trapezoidal traction-separation laws in pure modes I and II,
to account for the ductile behaviour of the adhesive used. These laws were determined by an inverse
method, which consists on the estimation of the cohesive parameters with a tting procedure of the
experimental and numerical loaddisplacement curves of the respective fracture characterization test.
The pure mode III cohesive law was equalled to the pure mode II one. This numerical methodology was
found adequate to reproduce the experimentally observed behaviour of these repairs.
& 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction structures, since these geometries lead to moderate peel and

High performance composites, such as carbon-bre reinforced
plastic (CFRP) composites, are being increasingly used in struc-
tures requiring high specic strength and stiffness. Automotive,
marine, military, aeronautical and aerospace industries are
the main elds of application of these materials. Their wide
acceptance introduces though an issue regarding the handling of
these materials after damage. Repair of these structures should be
evaluated, instead of their disposal, due to economical and
ecological reasons. In this context, it is extremely important to
have efcient repair methods that restore the damaged structure
to an acceptable level of functionality. Mechanically fastened
patches present some disadvantages, such as the weight penalty
and signicant stress concentrations at localized regions of the
composite structure, which can cause local overloads and
initiation of damage. Adhesively bonded repairs overcome these
limitations. The strap repair technique consists on executing a
circular hole to remove the damaged material, followed by the
adhesive-bonding of circular patches on one side (single strap, SS)
or both sides (double strap, DS) of the laminate. These repairs can
be used as a permanent repair in lightly loaded and relatively thin
structures. However, they may not be viable for high responsibility
 Corresponding author. Tel.: +351 939526892; fax: +351 225081584.
E-mail address: raulcampilho@hotmail.com (R.D.S.G. Campilho).
shear stress concentrations at the bond edges, arising from the
differential straining effects on the structure and patches, which
hampers a high efciency of these repairs.
Different techniques have been used in the past to predict the
mechanical behaviour of adhesively bonded repairs of isotropic or
composite structures. Analytical studies [13], experimental
strain-based methods [49] and numerical works using the nite
element method (FEM) [10,11] are the most common methodol-
ogies of analysis. Numerically, the repairs strength can be
predicted using adequate stress or strain-based criteria for the
adhesive layer, damaged structure and patches [1219]. However,
since these repair techniques often lead to stress concentrations
or even singularities, these criteria are highly mesh dependant.
Alternatively, cohesive zone models (CZM) can be coupled to FEM
models to analyse the behaviour of bonded repairs [2024],
simulating damage onset and growth in thin adhesive layers and,
in the case of layered composite laminates, between plies to
simulate delaminations or even to simulate intralaminar or bre
fractures. This methodology has the advantages of its mesh
independency, since damage growth is ruled by energetic criteria,
and the possibility to characterize the behaviour of the structures
up to failure. Baker et al. [5] used extensometry to characterize the
strain gradient on an adhesively repaired sandwich airplane wing
composed by an aluminium honeycomb core and CFRP faces,
under a constant bending moment. The inuence of the testing
conditions (humidity and temperature) on the failure strains was

0143-7496/$ - see front matter & 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.ijadhadh.2009.02.004
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also evaluated. The DS repair technique on CFRP laminates was obtaining the fracture energies (Jic, i I, II) from the double
studied by Liu and Wang [17] for a tensile loading. The FEM cantilever beam (DCB) and end-notched exure (ENF) tests for the
simulations using ANSYSs were able to predict the repair strength pure mode I and II laws, respectively, and estimating the
using the Tsai-Wu criterion to predict bre breakage and matrix remaining cohesive parameters tting the experimental and
cracking of the laminate and patches, the Ye delamination numerical loaddisplacement (Pd) curves of the respective
criterion to detect delamination between plies and the maximum fracture characterization test. The pure mode III cohesive law
shear stress criterion for the adhesive layer. A repair optimization was equalled to the pure mode II one.
procedure was carried out, assessing the inuence of the patch
diameter, thickness and lay-up, as well as the adhesive thickness,
on the strength and failure mode of the repairs. This methodology 2. Cohesive damage model
was compared with experiments, with a good correlation between
both. Soutis et al. [13] evaluated numerically by the FEM the 2.1. Model description
inuence of several geometric parameters on the compressive
strength of DS composite repairs. A repaired specimen in which A mixed-mode (I+II+III) cohesive damage model implemented
the drilled hole is lled with adhesive (plug lling) was also within interface nite elements was used to simulate a 0.2 mm
evaluated. The strength and locus of damage initiation of the thickness ductile adhesive layer of Araldites 2015. A trapezoidal
tested geometries were predicted with the maximum normal law between stresses (r) and relative displacements (dr) between
stress criterion for the micro-buckling in the parent laminate and homologous points of the interface elements with zero thickness
the average shear stress criterion for the adhesive layer. Hu and was employed (Fig. 1). These types of laws are considered to
Soutis [14] simulated numerically, using the FEM, the mechanical accurately reproduce the behaviour of thin ductile adhesive layers
behaviour of compression loaded DS composite CFRP repairs. The in mode I [25] and mode II [26]. The constitutive relationship
repairs strength was evaluated with the maximum shear strain before damage onset is
criterion on the adhesive layer. It was concluded that above a
r Ddr (1)
determined overlap length the repair strength remained practi-
cally constant, since an unloaded central region of the overlap of where D is a stiffness diagonal matrix dened later in this
increasing dimensions was observed. Campilho et al. [20] work. Considering the pure-mode model, after d1,i the material
addressed SS and DS repairs on unidirectional CFRP laminates softens progressively or, in other words, undergoes damage.
under a tensile load. A two-dimensional FEM analysis was used as Numerically, this is implemented by a damage parameter
an approximation to the three-dimensional geometry of these varying from zero (undamaged) to unity (complete loss of
repairs, for geometrical parameters optimization. The numerical stiffness) as the material deteriorates. The softening relationship
analysis used ABAQUSs and plane-strain eight node elements, can be written as
including a CZM to simulate damage initiation and growth. This r I  EDdr (2)
work focussed on the effect of the overlap length and the patch
thickness on the stress distributions in the adhesive layer and the where I is the identity matrix and E is a diagonal matrix
residual strength of the repairs. One of the most important containing, in the position corresponding to mode i (i I, II, III),
conclusions was related to the non-proportional strength im- the damage parameter (ei). In the plateau region, the damage
provement of the repairs as a function of the overlap length. In parameter is dened as
fact, above a determined patch diameter, the strength improve- d1;i
ment was minimal. The same authors [22] evaluated the tensile ei 1  (3)
di
behaviour of two-dimensional SS repairs on CFRP laminates for
and in the stress softening part of the curve
different overlap lengths and patch thicknesses. A numerical FEM
methodology including a CZM with a trapezoidal shape in pure d1;i du;i  di
ei 1  (4)
modes I and II was used to simulate a ductile adhesive layer, and di du;i  d2;i
was validated with experiments. An excellent correlation was
where di is the current displacement and d2,i is the stress softening
found between the experiments and the numerical simulations on
displacement in each mode. The maximum relative displacement,
the failure modes, elastic stiffness and strength of the repairs,
du,i, at which complete failure occurs, is obtained equating
which allowed the authors to conclude that the proposed
the area under the softening curve to the fracture energy in
methodology was adequate to simulate the mechanical behaviour
of adhesively bonded repairs.
This work presents an experimental and numerical study of the i Pure-mode
tensile behaviour of three-dimensional CFRP adhesively bonded model
strap repairs of [02,02,902,902]S lay-up laminates. Experimentally,
a failure mode, elastic stiffness and strength study was perfor- Jic (i = I, II, III)
med on the SS and DS repair congurations for different u,i
overlap lengths (LO) and patch thicknesses (tH), allowing to
optimize these repair parameters. The open-hole specimen
um,i Mixed-mode
(without patches) was also evaluated for comparison. A FEM model
numerical analysis was performed in ABAQUSs (from Dassault
Systemes, Suresnes, FRANCE), which allowed obtaining the elastic
Ji (i = I, II, III)
stiffness and the load corresponding to patch debonding,
used to understand the experimental mechanical behaviour
of the repairs. A CZM with trapezoidal traction-separation
laws in pure modes I, II and III was used to simulate the 2m,i 2,i u,i i
ductile adhesive used (Araldites 2015 from Huntsmann, Basel, 1m,i 1,i um,i
SWITZERLAND). The cohesive laws in pure modes I and II were
determined with an inverse method. This method consists on Fig. 1. Trapezoidal softening law for pure-mode and mixed-mode.
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680 R.D.S.G. Campilho et al. / International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives 29 (2009) 678686

each mode (Jic) which corresponds to the equivalent mixed-mode ultimate

su;i relative displacement. The parameters di (i I, II, III) are the
J ic d2;i  d1;i du;i (5) stiffness components, dened later in this work. It should be
2
emphasized that, when using a CZM to simulate damage initiation
with su,i corresponding to the local strength in each pure mode.
and growth, stresses at the concentration or singularity regions do
In general, structures are under a mixed-mode load. Therefore,
not exceed the values of su,i (i I, II, III, Fig. 1). However, using this
the formulation includes a mixed-mode damage model, which is
methodology, the strength prediction is not mesh sensitive if
an extension of the pure-mode model described (Fig. 1). Damage
several points undergo the softening process in a given increment.
onset is predicted using the quadratic stress criterion
When the quadratic stress criterion of Eq. (6) is satised at a given
     
sI 2 sII 2 sIII 2 integration point (under mixed-mode loading), the softening
1 if sI 40 process initiates, simulating material degradation and leading to
su;I su;II su;III
 2  2 (6) a stress plateau at this point and consequent stress redistribution
sII sIII
1 if sI p0 to the neighbouring integration points. To ensure that a stable
su;II su;III
propagation occurs, it is advisable that at least 4 or 5 integration
where si (i I, II, III) represent the stresses in each mode. It is points are under softening, thus promoting a smooth load
assumed that normal compressive stresses do not induce damage. redistribution (Fig. 1). This issue is also important to obtain mesh
Considering Eq. (1), the rst Eq. (6) can be rewritten as a function independent results and was guaranteed in all the numerical
of the relative displacements simulations.
     
d1m;I 2 d1m;II 2 d1m;III 2
1 (7)
d1;I d1;II d1;III 2.2. Cohesive parameters
where d1m,i (i I, II, III) are the relative displacements corre-
The trapezoidal mixed-mode CZM presented in the previous
sponding to damage initiation. Dening an equivalent mixed-
section was used in the numerical models to simulate a 0.2 mm
mode displacement
q thickness adhesive layer of the epoxy adhesive Araldites 2015.
dm d2I d2II d2III (8) The thickness of the adhesive layer (tA) is introduced in the
stiffness matrix (D). In fact, the stiffness components in pure
and mixed-mode ratios (i I, II, III) modes I and II (dI and dII) are calculated from the ratio between
di the elastic modulus of the material in tension or shear (E or G,
bi (9) respectively) and tA. In this work, the pure mode III cohesive law
dI
was equalled to the pure mode II one. To fully characterize the
the equivalent mixed-mode relative displacement at the onset of the cohesive laws in pure modes I and II, it is necessary to know the
softening process (d1m) can be obtained combining Eqs. (7)(9) respective local strength (su,i), second inexion point (d2,i) and
v
u fracture energy (Jic). Previous works were published assuming
u 1 b2 b2
d1m uu
II III
(10) adhesive bulk properties for these quantities [22,27,28]. However,
u 1
t b2II b2III the strain constraining effect of the adherends in these geometries
2
2
2
d1;I d1;II d1;III and the respective typical mixed-mode crack propagation justify a
known difference between the adhesive properties as a bulk or as
Stress softening onset (d2,i, i I, II, III) was predicted using a a thin layer [25,26,29]. To account for this difference, the cohesive
displacements criterion similar to (7) laws of the adhesive layer were determined using an inverse
      method. Whereas the detailed description of this methodology is
d2m;I 2 d2m;II 2 d2m;III 2
1 (11) presented in the work of de Moura et al. [30], it basically consists
d2;I d2;II d2;III
on an initial determination of JIc or JIIc from DCB or ENF tests,
Using a procedure similar to the one followed for d1m, the respectively, using a proper data reduction scheme. The value of Jic
equivalent mixed-mode relative displacement at the onset of the is inputted in the corresponding pure mode cohesive law in the
stress softening process (d2m) can be obtained numerical DCB or ENF model, which presents the same dimen-
v sions of the specimen it is simulating. Typical values for the local
u
u 1 b2 b2 strength (su,i) and second inexion point (d2,i) are initially
d2m uu
II
2
III
(12)
u 1
t b II b2III considered. These quantities are then determined using a tting
2
2
2 procedure between the numerical and experimental load
d2;I d2;II d2;III
displacement (Pd) curves of the respective fracture characteriza-
Crack growth was simulated by the linear fracture energetic criterion tion test. Table 1 presents the cohesive parameters of pure modes
I and II laws used to simulate the adhesive layer. The elastic
JI J J
II III 1 (13) modulus of the adhesive layer in tension and shear were deter-
J Ic J IIc JIIIc
mined experimentally [31] with bulk tensile and thick adherend
When Eq. (13) is satised damage growth occurs and stresses are shear test (TAST) tests, respectively (E 1850 MPa; G 650 MPa).
completely released, with the exception of normal compressive
ones. The energy released in each mode at complete failure can be
obtained from the area of the minor trapezoid of Fig. 1
Table 1
sum;i
Ji d2m;i  d1m;i dum;i (14) Cohesive parameters in pure modes I and II of a 0.2 mm thickness adhesive layer of
2 Araldites 2015.
Combining Eqs. (8), (9), (13) and (14) it can be written
i Jic (N/mm) su,i (MPa) d2,i (mm)
2 2 2 2
21 bII bIII JIc J IIc JIIIc  d1m d2m  d1m dI JIIc JIIIc dII bII J Ic JIIIc dIII bIII JIc JIIc
dum Pure mode I 0.43 23.0 0.01870
d1m dI J IIc J IIIc dII b2II JIc JIIIc dIII b2III J Ic J IIc
II 4.70 22.8 0.1710
(15)
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3. Experimental work Table 2

Geometries evaluated for the SS and DS repairs.

Fig. 2 presents the geometry and dimensions of the strap Geometry LO (mm) tH (mm) Patch lay-up
repairs evaluated in this work (the SS repair is presented as an
example; the DS repair consists on adhesively bonding one 1 5 1.2 [02,902]S
circular patch on both sides of the laminate). In this gure, a is 2 10 1.2 [02,902]S
3 15 1.2 [02,902]S
the specimen length between grips. The total length of the
4 10 0.6 [0, 90]S
specimens, including the edges clamped in the grips, is 150 mm. 5 10 1.2 [02,902]S
The inuence of the overlap length (LO) and the patch thickness 6 10 1.8 [02,902,02]S
(tH) on the adhesive stresses, failure mode, elastic stiffness 7 10 2.4 [02,902,02,902]S
and residual strength of the repairs was evaluated. The open-
hole specimen (without patches) was also characterized, for
comparison. Table 2 details the geometries evaluated for the SS Table 3
and DS repairs, and the patch lay-up for each value of tH. The Laminates and patches lamina mechanical properties [20].
[02,02,902,902]S lay-up was selected for the laminates. The
laminates and patches were manufactured using CFRP pre-preg E1 1.09E+05 MPa n12 0.342 G12 4315 MPa
E2 8819 MPa n13 0.342 G13 4315 MPa
(Texipreg HS 160 RM from SEALs, Legnano, ITALY) with 0.15 mm
E3 8819 MPa n23 0.380 G23 3200 MPa
of ply thickness. The mechanical properties of a unidirectional
lamina are listed in Table 3 [20]. The surface preparation prior to
bonding involved abrasion with 180 grit sandpaper and cleaning
with acetone, to avoid adhesive failures [22,32]. The adhesive was
cured at room temperature. The adhesive excess at the overlap
edges was removed before curing with a razor blade to reproduce
the geometry of Fig. 2. The specimens were tested under
displacement control (0.5 mm/min) on an Instrons (Norwood,
USA) 8801 hydraulic testing machine equipped with a 100 kN load
cell (Fig. 3 shows the experimental setup of a SS repair of
geometry 7, Table 2). Pictures were taken with 5 s intervals to fully
characterize the damage evolution of the repairs up to failure. At
least three valid tests for each geometry were always obtained.

4. Numerical analysis

A geometrical and material non-linear numerical analysis was

performed in ABAQUSs to simulate the mechanical behaviour of
the repairs and to assess the inuence of LO and tH (Table 2) on the
debonding of the patch, allowing a better understanding of
the repairs behaviour. Damage was considered to occur only at
the adhesive layer, simulated by the trapezoidal CZM presented in
Section 2. The numerical models were built using plane-stress
8-node rectangular and 6-node triangular solid nite elements
to simulate the laminates and patches. A detail of the mesh
renement used in the models is presented in Fig. 4 for a SS repair
of geometry 7 (Table 2). The laminates and patch were modelled
as orthotropic elastic materials, using one element through-
thickness for each set of adjacent and equally oriented plies. Near Fig. 3. Experimental setup in the testing machine (SS repair of geometry 7, Table 2).

Fig. 2. SS repair geometry and initial dimensions.

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5 3

4 2

3 1

y/avg (S)

xy/avg (S)
2 0

1 -1

0 -2
Fig. 4. Detail of the mesh at the overlap region (SS repair of geometry 7, Table 2).

-1 -3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x/LO
y, 5 mm y, 10 mm y, 15 mm
xy, 5 mm xy, 10 mm xy, 15 mm

Fig. 6. sy normal and txy shear stress distributions in the adhesive layer as a
function of LO (SS repairs).

5 3

4 2

3 1

xy/avg (S)
y/avg (S)

Fig. 5. Numerical idealization of the strap repairs and boundary conditions.

2 0

the bond region, each ply was modelled individually. Thirty 1 -1

elements were applied along the overlap. Biasing effects were
0 -2
used in the models, to guarantee a rened mesh where stress
gradients are known to be greater, i.e., the overlap edges [3335]. -1 -3
Only 1/4 (SS) and 1/8 (DS) of the repair was considered in the 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
analyses, due to the application of boundary conditions (Fig. 5). x/LO
For the DS repairs, vertical restraining at the laminate mid-
y, 0.6 mm y, 1.2 mm y, 1.8 mm y, 2.4 mm
thickness (plane C in Fig. 5) was applied. The inner edge of the xy, 1.2 mm xy, 1.8 mm xy, 2.4 mm
xy, 0.6 mm
overlap (IEO) and the outer edge of the overlap (OEO) are
presented in Fig. 5. Fig. 7. sy normal and txy shear stress distributions in the adhesive layer as a
function of tH (SS repairs).

5. Results
5 3
5.1. Stress analysis
4 2
An elastic stress analysis in the adhesive layer was performed
3 1
xy/avg (D)
for the repairs evaluated, to assess the inuence of the sy normal
y/avg (D)

and txy shear stresses on the repairs behaviour, induced by the 2 0

presence of the patch or patches. Previous works by the authors
[23,28] showed that the adhesive stresses for both SS and DS 1 -1
repairs are highest at the IEO and OEO, at the mid-longitudinal
plane of the repair (plane B in Fig. 5). Consequently, normal 0 -2
and shear stresses were plotted only at plane B. Figs. 6 and 7
-1 -3
represent sy normal and txy shear stresses as a function of LO 0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
(geometries 13 in Table 2) and tH (geometries 47 in Table 2) for
x/LO
the SS repairs, respectively. Figs. 8 and 9 show the corresponding
stresses for the DS repairs. In this work, sy normal and txy shear y, 5 mm y, 10 mm y, 15 mm
xy, 5 mm xy, 10 mm xy, 15 mm
stresses were normalized by the average shear stress in the
adhesive layer along the overlap at plane B (Fig. 5) for
Fig. 8. sy normal and txy shear stress distributions in the adhesive layer as a
the geometry 2 repair (tavg(S) and tavg(D) for the SS and DS function of LO (DS repairs).
repairs, respectively), under a tensile displacement of 4 mm. x/LO
represents the overlap normalized distance from the IEO
(Figs. 2 and 5). Typical stress distributions were obtained for shear peak stresses at the overlap edges, in the case of a DS
these repairs [20,28,36,37], with peel stresses peaking at the repair [20,28]. Moreover, for both SS and DS repairs, it is
overlap edges and moderate shear stress concentrations at emphasized that the considerable increase of the shear stresses
the same regions, due to the differential deformation effects with the reduction of LO can lead to a premature debonding
[38,39]. The most important conclusions pertain to the suppres- of the patch. These results are consistent with the work of
sion of the peel peak stresses at the IEO and the reduction of the Campilho [28].
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5 3 75

4 2
70
3 1

xy/avg (D)
y/avg (D)

K [kN/mm]
2 0 65

1 -1 60
0 -2
55
-1 -3
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1
x/LO 50
0 0.6 1.2 1.8 2.4
y, 0.6 mm y, 1.2 mm y, 1.8 mm y, 2.4 mm
tH [mm]
xy, 0.6 mm xy, 1.2 mm xy, 1.8 mm xy, 2.4 mm
SS experimental DS experimental Open hole experimental
Fig. 9. sy normal and txy shear stress distributions in the adhesive layer as a SS numerical DS numerical Numerical trend
function of tH (DS repairs).
Fig. 11. Elastic stiffness as a function of tH.

75
100

70

90
K [kN/mm]

65
Pm [kN]

60
80

55

70
50 0 5 10 15
0 5 10 15 LO [mm]
LO [mm]
SS experimental DS experimental Open hole experimental
SS experimental DS experimental Open hole experimental SS numerical DS numerical Numerical trend
SS numerical DS numerical Numerical trend
Fig. 12. Maximum load as a function of LO.
Fig. 10. Elastic stiffness as a function of LO.

100

5.2. Mechanical behaviour

The following gures represent the elastic stiffness (K) of the 90

Pm [kN]

SS and DS repairs as a function of LO (Fig. 10, geometries 13 in

Table 2) and tH (Fig. 11, geometries 47 in Table 2). The maximum
load (Pm) sustained by the repairs as a function of LO and tH is 80
presented in Fig. 12 (geometries 13 in Table 2) and Fig. 13
(geometries 47 in Table 2), respectively. In these gures, the
values of LO 0 mm and tH 0 mm pertain to the open-hole
laminate. K is dened as the initial slope of the Pd curve. The 70
numerical values of Pm correspond to the patch debonding load, 0 0.6 1.2 1.8 2.4
instead of the maximum load sustained by the specimens. These tH [mm]
values will not be used to perform a strength prediction of the SS experimental DS experimental Open hole experimental
repairs. Indeed, they will only be considered for a better under- SS numerical DS numerical Numerical trend
standing of the repairs behaviour, which will be described further
in this work. This approach was adopted due to the impossibility Fig. 13. Maximum load as a function of tH.
to simulate bres axial splitting in the laminate, which ruled the
fracture behaviour of the repairs, as will be discussed later in this
work. A good correlation was found between the experiments and SS repairs for the values of tH evaluated, while for the DS repairs a
the numerical results on K, as a function of LO and tH. An slight increasing tendency was observed. In order to fully
increasing trend of K was observed with LO, for both SS and DS understand the inuence of the application of a patch or patches
repairs, with the DS repairs presenting a higher stiffness, due to on the strength behaviour of these repairs, the behaviour of the
the elimination of the laminate exure and increased stiffness at open-hole specimen was rstly characterized. It was observed
the repair region [23]. No signicant difference was found for the that damage initiation occurred by tensile failure at the hole edges
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684 R.D.S.G. Campilho et al. / International Journal of Adhesion & Adhesives 29 (2009) 678686

Fig. 14. Progressive damage evolution in an open-hole specimen: initiation of axial splitting at the hole edges (a) and axial splitting propagation towards the specimen
edges (b).

Fig. 15. Progressive damage evolution in a SS repair with LO 5 mm (geometry 1, Table 2): initiation of axial splitting in the repaired face (a), initiation of axial splitting in
the free face (b) and axial splitting propagation towards the specimen edges and transverse failure (c).

near the symmetry plane A (Fig. 5). However, this highly localized
damage did not show any inuence on the Pd curves proles. The
120
maximum load in these specimens corresponds to the initiation of
the axial splitting of the bres at the supercial 01 plies at both
100
sides of the specimens. This damage mechanism initiated at the
hole edges at plane A (Fig. 5) and propagated up to the testing
80
machine grips (Fig. 14a). Simultaneously, axial splitting in the
P [kN]

laminate propagated transversely along plane A (Fig. 5) towards

60
the specimens lateral edges (Fig. 14b), causing a gradual decrease
on the load. At a given point, the specimen failed transversely at
40
plane A (Fig. 5), corresponding to complete failure. The inuence
of the bonded patches on the mechanical behaviour and strength
20
of the repairs consisted on the ability of the patch or patches to Experimental Numerical
modify the displacement corresponding to the initiation of the
0
axial splitting in the laminate. Analysing LO, it was noticed that 0 1 2 3 4
using LO 5 mm caused a premature patch debonding and axial
 [mm]
splitting in the SS repair in the repaired face of the laminate
initiating at the OEO (Fig. 5), corresponding to the maximum load Fig. 16. Experimental and numerical Pd curves comparison for the LO 5 mm SS
of the repair (Fig. 15a). Axial splitting in the free face of the repairs.
laminate occurred only after this occurrence, subsequently to the
peak load (Fig. 15b). Consequently, a strength reduction was
observed, compared to the open-hole specimen. Final failure agrees with the experimental observations. Since this premature
occurred by transverse failure (Fig. 15c). Fig. 16 presents a patch debonding event was accompanied by the initiation of the
comparison between the experimental and numerical Pd curves axial splitting in the respective laminate face, corresponding to
for the LO 5 mm SS repairs (the circle marks on the numerical Pm, a strength reduction to the open-hole laminate was observed.
curves represent the prediction of patch debonding). The patch It should be emphasized that the gradually increasing difference
debonding prediction corresponded to a smaller load than the between the experimental and numerical stiffness prior to Pm was
average value of Pm for the open-hole laminate (86.90 kN). This caused by an unavoidable slipping of the repairs in the testing
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
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120
100
80
P [kN]
60
40
20
Experimental Numerical
0 strap repairs of carbon-epoxy laminates was addressed experi-
0 1 2 3
 [mm]
Fig. 17. Experimental and numerical Pd curves comparison for the LO 15 mm SS
repairs.
machine grips, due to the signicant magnitude of the loads
involved. This premature event is eliminated with bigger patches,
since using L0 10 and 15 mm patches no premature axial
splitting in the laminate is observed. In fact, patch debonding
occurred approximately simultaneously or after the axial splitting
in the free face of the laminate. Hence, a slight increasing trend is
observed increasing LO (Fig. 12). The Pd curves for the LO 15
mm SS repairs are presented in Fig. 17. A patch debonding value of
P 93.78 kN was numerically predicted for this repair. Experi-
mentally, a strength improvement was observed, compared to the
open-hole laminate, which corroborated the numerical simula-
tions. DS repairs exhibit a similar increasing trend with LO. Using
LO 5 mm, a similar premature debonding of the patches and
axial splitting in the laminate repaired face is responsible for a
strength reduction, compared to the open-hole specimen. With
bigger patches, no premature patch debonding was detected,
which increased the repairs strength. Numerically, the values of
Pm corresponding to patch debonding were consistent with the
experimental failure modes, i.e., for the SS and DS repairs with
LO 5 mm, patch debonding occurred at a smaller load than the
value of Pm for the open-hole specimen. This behaviour justied
the experimentally observed premature patch debonding. With
bigger values of LO, patch debonding occurred at similar or higher
loads than the open-hole specimen. These results showed that
only for the DS repairs and values of LO above 10 mm a relevant
strength improvement is achieved, compared to the open-hole
specimen. Evaluating the inuence of tH on the tensile strength of
the repairs (Fig. 13), it can be observed that this parameter
practically does not inuence the repair strength using the SS
repair technique. Using a 0.6 mm patch, a slight strength
reduction is observed, compared to the open-hole specimen. No
denitive conclusions were drawn about this behaviour. In fact,
similarly to the repairs with higher values of tH, patch debonding
occurs at a similar load to the open-hole specimen. A comparable
strength improvement occurs for all values of tH evaluated, using
the DS repair. The reduced inuence of this parameter on the
repairs strength is justied by the patch failure occurring
approximately simultaneously to the axial splitting in the free
face of the laminate. In the numerical analyses, the patch
debonding load slightly decreased with the increase of tH, due
to a corresponding increase of the patch stiffness, which led to
higher magnitude peak stresses at the OEO and earlier patch
debonding (Fig. 9). These results corroborate the experimental
results on the small inuence of tH on the repairs strength. It can
be concluded that the LO 15 mm DS repair is the best solution,
since it attains the highest value of Pm. Between the different
values of tH evaluated for the SS and DS repairs, the tH 1.2 mm
685
DS repair is the best solution, since it leads to a smaller
aerodynamic disturbance and weight penalty of the repaired
structure, compared to the thicker patches which exhibit a similar
strength. However, for the value of LO used in this analysis
(10 mm), no major strength difference was found, compared to the
open-hole laminate, which could eventually occur with different
values of LO.
6. Concluding remarks
In the present work, the tensile behaviour of single- and double-
4 mentally and numerically for different overlap lengths and patch
thicknesses. The inuence of these parameters on the failure
modes, elastic stiffness and strength of the repairs was assessed
experimentally. Numerically, the inuence of the overlap length
and the patch thickness on the debonding of the patches was
studied, allowing a better understanding of the experimental
behaviour of the repairs. A numerical methodology was presented
to simulate the mechanical behaviour of an adhesive layer in
bonded repairs. This procedure used the nite element method and
a trapezoidal mixed-mode cohesive damage model to simulate the
adhesive layer. The cohesive laws in pure modes I and II were
derived using an inverse method, which initially consisted on
obtaining the fracture toughness in pure mode I and II with double
cantilever beam and end-notched exure tests, respectively. The
remaining parameters of the pure mode cohesive laws were
estimated tting the numerical and experimental loaddisplace-
ment curves. The pure mode III cohesive law was equalled to the
pure mode II one. The mixed-mode behaviour of the adhesive layer,
typical of these geometries, was simulated with adequate criteria.
Evaluating the inuence of the overlap length, it was observed that
using a 5 mm overlap length patch led to a strength reduction of
the single- and double-strap repairs, due to a premature patch
debonding event and axial splitting in the laminate. The best
results were obtained for a 15 mm overlap length double-strap
repair. On the other hand, the patch thickness exhibited a smaller
inuence on the repairs strength for the range of values studied. In
this work, design guidelines were presented to execute single- and
double-strap repairs on composite laminates.
Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank the Portuguese Foundation for
Science and Technology for supporting the work here presented,
through the individual grant SFRH/BD/30305/2006 and the
research project PDTC/EME-PME/64839/2006.
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