Optimization of composite bonded joints and

repairs
Maria Victoria Castro Fernndez
EDAM focus area (MIT-Portugal)
Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto


Supervisor: Marcelo Moura
Co-Supervisors: Antonio Torres Marques, Lucas Silva, Thomas Eager
& Manuel Freitas
EDAM Meeting FEUP
Porto, March 16, 2011
Objectives
The use of fracture mechanics in designing against
damage propagation;
Create methodologies to conduct bonded
joints/repairs in structures of composites
materials;
Development of systems to teach technicians and
shop-floor workers how to optimize the costs and
bonding performance in structures currently used
in industry.
Assessed Needs
Better understanding of bonded
joints behavior, to develop an
industry with enough knowledge
to design structures;
Impact of the repairs and quality
control in the durability of the
blades;
Critical costs when a wind turbine
has stop for maintenance.
Main Tasks
Fatigue characterization of bonded joints
Evaluation of geometrical changes effects on
bonds fatigue strength
Cost analysis
Manufacture
Non-destructive testing
Durability
Methodology Development
Process Engineering
Design limitations
and specifications
Durability
Fracture Mechanics
Costs
Static analysis and
fatigue simulations
Improve durability Improved costs
Less defects:
Non-destructive tests
Methodology
to manufacture
more efficient
bonded joints
Time-line of the main tasks
FATIGUE CHARACTERIZATION
Main Tasks
Fatigue characterization of bonded joints under
mode I, mode II and mixed-mode loading:
Mode I: DCB (Double Cantilever Beam)
Mode II: ENF (End Notched Flexure) 3 points
Mixed mode: still define the possible test
ELS-MM End Loaded Split for Mixed-Mode;
SLB (Single-Leg Bending).

Variables: Determination of Paris law parameters
and fracture surfaces characterization.
Introduction
Cyclical fatigue loading leads to failure even at small loads.
For fatigue damage two approaches have been used extensively - stress-life and
fatigue crack growth (FCG).
The FCG method is the correlation between the rate of fatigue crack growth per
cycle (da/dN) and the change of one fracture parameter (G Energy Release
Rate) over the time.
The Paris-Law is an empirical law.
2
1
C
I
Ic
G da
C
dN G
| |
=
|
\ .
Paris-Law
Experimental tests
The ASTM E 647 08 standard was used
The tests were made with load control (constant
amplitude loading).
The load ratio (R) is 0.1 and the maximum load is
50% of the average maximum static load.
The main objective of these tests is to define the
fatigue crack growth rate as a function of the
(Gmax/Gic (i=I,II))
) 1 (
'
2
v
=
a
a
E
E
E
E
t h
a
' 6
3
4
=
o

2
2 2 2
) 1 (
2 2
o
+ = =
bEI
a P
da
dC
b
P
G
I
Data reduction scheme to evaluate G
I
=f(a
e
)
Pirondis method:
CBBM:
2 3
1 2 3 4
C A A a A a A a = + + +
da
dC
b
P
G
I
2
2
=
e
f ( ) a C =
( ) ( ) ( )
(

+ + + = =
3 2
3
2
2 2 1
'
2
a a a
b E
t
P
C
a
o o o
o

o
Polynomial:
Experimental tests
Double Cantilever Beam
End-Notched Flexure
Both tests have equivalent dimensions,
because the Paris-law depends on the
specimen geometry.
Specimens
DCB
L = 125 mm
a
0
= 45 mm
b= 25 mm
l
3
= 15 mm
h = 2.7 mm


ENF
L = 125 mm
a
0
= 45 mm
b= 25 mm
h = 2.7 mm

The adhesive thickness is 0.2 mm

DCB Results
y = 0.0156x
2.9155

R = 0.9446
0.0001
0.001
0.01
0.1 1
d
a
e
/
d
N

G
Imax
/G
Ic
dae/dN
Power
(dae/dN)
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
40 50 60 70 80
G
I
m
a
x

(
J
/
m
m
2
)

a (mm)
G CBBM
Gmax
Pirondi
40
80
120
1000 11000 21000 31000
a

(
m
m
)

N (nmero de ciclos)
ae
a medido
0.0005
0.005
0.2
d
a
/
d
N

G
Imax
/G
Ic
da/dN (Pirondi)
dae/dN (CBBM)
DCB Results
Ysec = 0,0196x3,2675
R = 0,6644
Ypol = 0,0055x2,29
R = 0,8019
0.0001
0.001
0.01
0.2
d
a
e
/
d
N

G
Imax
/G
Ic
Lei Geral (secante)
Lei Geral (pol)
Power (Lei Geral
(secante))
Power (Lei Geral
(pol))
General Law 0,0055 2,29
Polynomial Method
2
1
C
I
Ic
G da
C
dN G
| |
=
|
\ .
General Law 0.0196 3.26747
Secant Method
Paris law constants
C1 C2
1 0.0255 3.2702
2 0.0156 2.9155
3 0.1226 5.0217
4 0.1837 4.9585
5 0.0163 3.6237
6 0.014 2.7019
C1 C2
1
0,0078 2,3391
2
0,0048 2,161
3
0,0059 2,4042
4
0,0063 2,0792
5
0,007 3,0529
ENF Results
A Matlab program was made to calculate the
displacement, the load and the compliance of the
specimen by using the real time acquisition data
of the MTS machine.
ENF Results
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
0
0.001
0.002
0.003
0.004
0.005
0.006
0.007
0 50000 100000 150000
G
i
i

C
N (Number of Cycles)
C
G CBBM
-1200
-1000
-800
-600
-400
-200
0
49 49.5 50 50.5 51 51.5 52 52.5
L
o
a
d

(
N
)

Time (s)
y = 0.0686x
2.9697

R = 0.6022
y = 0.2242x
3.804

R = 0.7765
y = 0.0344x
3.0875

R = 0.8856
0.00001
0.0001
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
1.00E-01 1.00E+00
d
a
e
/
d
N

Giimax/Giic
Specimen 1
Specimen 2
Spec. 1 Pol. Method
Power (Specimen 1)
Power (Specimen 2)
Power (Spec. 1 Pol.
Method)
INTRODUCTION TO THE WIND
INDUSTRY
Wind Industry
There some projects to develop more efficient methods to
build the eolic blades.
The demand for blades has become larger in the last
years.
Blades
1
2
3
BLADES
All the structure is bonded.
The adhesive joints are critical points in the blade
structure;
The repairs are performed by bonding patches
Fatigue behavior is crucial in these structures

COSTS ANALYSIS
Manufacturing
Manufacturing costs and weight saving:
In 8 ton, 1 ton approximately is from the adhesive.
Durability:
Less maintenance of the blades in situ.
Quality of the bonded joints:
Infrared (IR) scanning
Ultrasounds

Manufacture
i) Make an impact evaluation of the adhesive cost in the
cost of the blade
Variables: costs involved in manufacturing the blade and costs
involved in the bonding.
ii) Optimization of the bonding process by reducing the
time, raw materials and costs
Variables: Time of bonding and amount of adhesive used.
iii) Quantify the costs reduction and the impact in the
cost of the blade
Variables: costs related to the improvements proposed in ii).
Non-Destructive testing
Define the most appropriate methodology for the
quality control of the blades, the costs of
implementing this technology and the
advantages.
Variables: most important parameters, costs of
implementing the selected technology and the main
advantages.
Possible methodologies to define the technology:
SWOT analysis
Weight matrix for the most important parameters.

Methodology Development

Develop a cost-effective bonded process for
implementation in the wind energy industry.
Variables: create a methodology to manufacture blades with
optimized bonded joints.






Conclusions