Tensile After Impact Test of Scarf-Repaired Composite Laminates

This paper presents the influence of impact location at the bond line of internal repaired composite. Regarding this, the composite laminates were manufactured via vacuum assist resin infusion method and scarfed adhesive bonded repair technique was used for the laminates. Four different impact points were selected on the repaired laminates to apply the impact load. Low-velocity impact test was conducted via drop weight impact on the repaired samples with two different energy levels (15 and 25J), and damage analysis was carried out through visual inspection of the each impacted laminates. Furthermore, the impact response of the repaired laminates was compared with virgin impacted composites and inspected based on impact parameters such as maximum force, impact time duration, damaged area, damage depth, and energy absorption. In addition, the residual strength of the impacted samples was investigated using tensile test. The results disclosed that the repaired composite showed susceptibility to impact that varied with impact locations. From the tensile test, it was evident that scarf repair was capable of restoring 78.16% of the strength. Tensile test discovered that the repaired sample impacted outside of the repaired zone which demonstrated the least damage and proved more efficient to carry more tensile load, whereas the impact location at the scarf edge depicted larger damage and bear the least tensile load. A correlation was established among tensile after impact and the energy absorption of the laminates. The laminate obtained more absorbed energy during low-velocity impact and sustained the least tensile load while tensile testing.