Composites

Development of metal bonding and composite materials:

• The first aircraft with movable flight controls to fly was the Wright Flyer at Kitty Hawk, N.C., in 1903. This

aircraft was constructed of wood with cotton fabric glued to the frame.

• This combination of materials is known as a composite.

• In its simplest form, a composite is a combination of two or more materials joined permanently together so

that the strength of the combined materials is greater than any of the component materials.
• As the structural demands placed upon aircraft increased with greater speeds and payloads, alternative

materials and assembly techniques were developed.

• As technology progressed, aircraft were assembled using mechanical fasteners to connect aluminum skins to

structural members.

• Aluminum is lightweight and offers greater structural integrity than wood and fabric.

• Mechanical fasteners provide an easily accessible means of transferring the loads associated with the

aircraft's structure.
• However, the use of mechanical fasteners, such as screws, bolts, and rivets, as a means of transferring the aircraft’s

structural loads, requires that holes be drilled or punched into the structural members and skins.

• This process, leads to a number of minute cracks, which create stress risers.

• These cracks grow in size, eventually resulting in failure.

• In addition, the use of mechanical fasteners increases parasitic drag when they are placed in the airstream.

• The use of mechanical fasteners also results in increasing the weight of the entire structure.

• Aircraft engineers needed to find materials and assembly processes that would eliminate or reduce the effects of mechanical

fasteners in order to further reduce the aircraft’s weight and drag, thus increasing the aircraft's speed and payload.

• Combining their efforts with those of chemical engineers, the aircraft engineers developed methods for bonding metal

structures together.

• A bonded structure eliminates stress concentrations due to the creation of holes and evenly distributes the load along the

entire surface of the assembly

Bonded Structures
• A bonded structure is an assembly that is "glued" together and does not use mechanical fasteners to give the
assembly its strength.

• This process of construction uses specially formulated adhesives that are exothermically cured.

• Curing is a process that prepares, preserves, or finishes material by a chemical or physical process

• Proper curing of aircraft bonded materials is necessary to ensure that the resultant joint possesses the anticipated
strength.

• Materials are exothermically cured when the chemicals involved in the process combine in a manner such that
the heat produced is a result of the chemical reaction between the agents and not from an external source.

• The temperature involved in the process is critical in providing the proper bond characteristics.
• This exothermic bonding technique, also called cold bonding, was originally used in a number of all-metal aircraft.

• However, as these aircraft aged, the shortcomings of these cold-bonded joints became apparent.

• As a result, hot bond processes, which use elevated temperatures to cure the adhesives while in a vacuum or under

specific pressures, were developed and are in common usage today.

• Even though hot-bonding techniques have improved the joining process, the structural limitations of the aluminum

skins, such as the potential for corrosion and fatigue failure, still remain.

• Hence aerospace and materials engineers continued their efforts to find new materials that provide structural

integrity and increases in the useful life.

• Composite assemblies consisting of a fiber reinforcement material imbedded in a resin matrix were developed in the

quest for lighter, stronger materials.

Typical Repairs to Bonded Metal Structures

• Repair of bonded metal skin, as with all repairs, should follow the instructions found in the manufacturer's

manuals.

• The rivets are countersunk and then smoothed over with an epoxy filler, which is sanded smooth. The final

finish is urethane enamel

Repair for the leading edge of a wing
A typical repair for the leading edge of a wing on a bonded metal airplane is shown in Fig.

• Trim out the damaged area in a rectangular pattern and deburr.

• Place the repair doubler beneath the wing skin, as shown in Fig.

• Note that the doubler is 2024-T3 Alclad aluminum. (Note: Dimensions given are typical.)

• Holding the repair doubler in place, drill 3.18 mm dimple holes through the wing skin, spacing the holes 15.88

mm apart, center to center.

• This repair can be completed in the area of wing ribs by installing the doubler in two places, one on each side of

the rib flange.)

• Secure the doubler to the wing leading edge with 3.18-m diameter countersunk Cherry rivets (CR162) or

equivalent. If bucked rivets are used, exercise caution to prevent nearby bond damage.

• Place the preformed filler flush with the skin over the doubler. The filler must be the same material and

thickness as the skin.

• Hold the filler in place, drill dimple holes through filler, spacing holes 15.88 mm apart, center to center.

• Secure the filler to the doubler as directed in above step

• Use an epoxy filler and sand smooth. Finish to match aircraft.

Instructions for the repair

• If the rib damage consists of a crack, stop-drill the crack if it does not extend to the edge of the part and add a

reinforcement plate to carry the stress across the damaged portion and to stiffen the joints.

• If the area is to be repaired is damaged extensively, trim out the damaged area and deburr

• Make repair parts from 6061-T6 aluminum alloy or equivalent.

• Hold the doubler, 0.032 in [0.81 mm] thick, in place against the damaged area on the rib structure. If extra

support is needed, place a formed angle against the inside portion of the rib nested under the flange; place a

doubler on the opposite side of the rib against the damaged area.
• With repair parts held in place, drill 3.18-mm diameter holes through repair parts and rib structure

Spacing holes 19.05 mm apart, center to center. Holes drilled at the ends of the formed angle

should be placed [6.35 mm] from the edge.

• Install all rivets, 3.18-mm diameter Cherry rivets CR162, CR!63, or equivalent, with wet zinc

chromate primer. If bucked rivets are used, exercise caution to prevent nearby bond damage

• After the repair is completed, coat the repaired area with zinc chromate primer.
Composites
• Composite materials and bonded structures have been in use for many years.

• Adobe bricks are appropriately considered composite materials because they are made from a mixture of straw and mud

bonded together

• Reinforced concrete used in driveways and roads is a composite material because it is made from a combination of cement

and reinforcing rods.

• Fibre-glass-reinforced-plastic (FRP) type of structural fabrication was not placed in common use because tests revealed that

even though it exhibited high specific strength, the glass reinforcement material had marginal rigidity compared to metallic

structures.
• A composite is an inhomogeneous material that has been created by the synthetic assembly of two or more materials
to obtain specific characteristics or properties.

• Unlike metal alloys, which are homogeneous, the component materials in composites retain their identities

• the component parts of a composite do not dissolve or otherwise merge completely into each other, even though they
do act as one.

• Normally, the components can be physically identified after assembly and continue to exhibit an interface between
themselves

• An example of a material in common use that is not a composite by definition is a two-part-mixture epoxy adhesive.

• When the two parts are mixed together, they form a third material that becomes a very tough, useful adhesive.

• Each individual part can no longer be identified.

• The previous examples of the adobe bricks and the reinforced concrete are composites because the individual
components can still be identified after compilation into a new material.
General Characteristics of Composites

• Composite structures are those aircraft components that are manufactured using fibrous materials combined with a specially

formulated medium called a matrix

• The original composite materials used in aircraft components were limited to fiberglass fibers combined with thermoset polyester

resins as the matrix and were not used in critical applications.

• A thermoset resin is a type of resin that, once cured, cannot return to the uncured, or soft, state

• Thermoplastic resins may be repeatedly softened with heat, even after they are originally cured.

• Both thermosetting resins and thermoplastics increase the workability of a material.

• In addition, thermosetting resins may be added to the material before the component fabrication process begins
• When a matrix is added to the fibrous material as part of a material's manufacturing process-but prior to its use--it is pre-

impregnated and this material is commonly called pre-preg

• The most critical properties of a composite, which are controlled by the direction of the reinforcement fibers and the ability of

the matrix to transfer loads from one fiber to another, are called transverse properties.

• The load-carrying properties of a fibrous composite are greatest when the load applied runs in the same direction as the fibers

• Loads that do not run parallel to the reinforcement fibers must, at least in part, be transferred through the matrix, which

typically has the lowest load-carrying capability

• When compared to conventional sheet-metal structures, composites have a low sensitivity to sonic vibrations (good vibration

resistance)

• There are also lower assembly costs due to a reduction in the number of mechanical fasteners and parts in a particular assembly
Types of Composite Structures

Composite structures can either be a

• solid laminate
• Honeycomb
• rigid foam sandwich construction

• A solid laminate is made by bonding together several layers of reinforcing fiber materials that have been
impregnated with the resin matrix
• A sandwich assembly is made by taking a high-density laminate or solid face and back plate and sandwiching
a low-density filler (core) between them
• This filler can be honeycomb which may be fabricated from reinforced paper, Nomex, fiberglass, aluminum,
or carbon, a rigid foam
Reinforcement Materials for Composites

• Reinforcement fibers are produced in several forms using various materials. Fiberglass material is the most

widely used in aircraft

• It is manufactured in either S-glass fiber (structural) or E-glass fiber (electrical) forms for aircraft applications.

• Glass can be found as chopped strands, woven roving, woven fabrics, continuous-strand mats, chopped strand

mats, and milled fibers.

• As stated, carbon, Kevlar, boron, tungsten, quartz, and ceramics are collectively known as high-strength

advanced composites
• Even in the fiber form, there are a number of variations. There are hollow fibers, fibers of noncircular cross section, and

solid, circular cross-sectional fibers,

• The most common of these are solid, circular cross-sectional fibers, which are commonly found in general and commercial

aviation applications.

• These solid-circular cross-sectional fibers are combined with strong, stiff, heat-resistant, synthetic resin matrices to form a

composite material.

• The engineering performance of a fiber-matrix combination depends upon the fibers' orientation, length, shape, and

composition

• The mechanical properties of a composite are directly proportional to the amount of fiber that is oriented by volume in a

particular direction

• Since fiber length has a bearing on the processability of the composite, this consideration is of major concern during part