A MECHANICAL COMPARISON OF MELDING AND ADHESIVE BONDING IN A T-STIFFENED CARBON FIBRE/EPOXY SECTION.

MARK FORRESTA, SIRIWANN SAOA, TIM CORBETTA, DALE BROSIUSB, BRONWYN FOXA. A School of Engineering and Technology, Deakin University, Victoria 3217, Australia B Quickstep Technologies Pty Ltd, Canning Vale, Western Australia 6155, Australia SUMMARY Melding is an alternative joining method to adhesive bonding and mechanical fastening. Melding utilizes the low-cost, out-of-autoclave Quickstep composite curing process. This work involved the production and mechanical testing of a generic T-stiffened skin section, produced using an epoxy/carbon fibre prepreg commonly used in the aerospace industry (HexPly 914). The same joint was produced in an autoclave using a film adhesive (Redux 322). Tensile results showed no experimentally significant difference in the maximum (failure) load between the melded (3.90.1 kN) and adhesively bonded (4.82.1 kN) demonstrators. INTRODUCTION A major goal of composite design is to reduce the number of components required, thus minimising the number of secondary joining operations. Secondary joins reduce the part integrity as well as affecting the ease of manufacture. The drawbacks of mechanical fasteners are well known, such as increased weight, cost and the potential for stress concentration sites [1], they are still in widespread use. While adhesives have been growing in their areas of application, they are prone to other problems such as creep and hydrolysis [ 2 ]. The Melding technique has been developed as an alternative to the use of both mechanical fasteners and adhesives. Melding is an in-situ method to create a seamless join in thermosetting matrices that removes the need to use a separate adhesive layer. The process involves retaining sufficient uncured resin in a prepreg laminate, so that when these regions are brought together, diffusion of resin across the interface allows cross-linking of the network when cured. The result is a joint indistinguishable from the substrate. The limit to melding is one of gelation; prior to the joining step the degree of cure of the laminate must be below the gel point.

Melding uses the QuickstepTM process [ 3 ] to control the degree of cure within discrete sections of a laminate during the curing cycle. Previous work has shown equivalence in flexural and lap-shear strengths in melded and co-cured specimens [4] produced via the Quickstep process. Using this fundamental work as a starting point, the current work sought to demonstrate the melding process in a commonly encountered part; a T-stiffened joint. EXPERIMENTAL Melded T-section via Quickstep High temperature epoxy/carbon fibre unidirectional prepreg tape, (HexPly 914C T300 6K, Hexcel Composites) was used to produce both Stiffener and skin. The Tsection was formed from two backto-back laminates each consisting of [0/45-45/45-45/0]s, laminate,

measuring 210x100 mm. Skins consisted of 32 layers [0/90]16s measuring 150x210 mm (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Lay-up diagram for melded and adhesively bonded specimens.

The tooling to produce the stiffener consisted of a PTFE strip in an aluminium baseplate and a 50x25 mm section aluminium mandrel through which cold water could be circulated (Figure 2). These inserts allowed the degree of cure in the flange region to be delayed (in a pre-gel state), while the web section of the Stiffener was taken beyond the gel-point to give the part some handling robustness. Solid release film type (Wrightlon 5200, Airtech) 210 mm long was placed 25 mm into the mid-ply position of the lay-up to allow subsequent formation of 25 mm T-section flanges (75 mm web). Curing comprised of an initial 30 minute dwell at 110C followed by a final 60 minute dwell at 180C (Figure 2). The partially-cured Stiffener was then placed into a lay-up jig consisting of 3mm thick aluminium angle section supporting the cured Stiffener web (Figure 3). The uncured flanges were opened out and a noodle of rolled-up prepreg, (150x210 mm) was used to space fill the central region. Capping and skin plies were then laid on top of the Stiffener flanges to complete the T-section, which was vacuum-bagged and cured

again using the cure cycle described previously. All sections underwent a final 190C post-cure in a conventional oven for one hour.

Figure 2: Tooling used for the selective precuring of the Stiffener web and flange.

Figure 3: Tooling used for the 'melding' of the complete Stiffener and skin.

Adhesively bonded T-section via Autoclave Four specimens of T-section and skin were cured separately, using the Quickstep method. Mating surfaces were grit blasted and solvent wiped with methyl ether ketone (MEK) before being dried at 100C for 20 minutes. A single layer of Redux 322 film adhesive (Hexcel Composites), was placed between the Stiffener flange and skin. The Stiffener/adhesive/skin was laid onto a 6 mm thick aluminium plate previously covered with release film. Two sections of 3 mm thick aluminium angle section, (to provide localised support during cure), were placed against the Stiffener web. The entire construction was vacuum bagged and cured using the recommended cure schedule of 5Cmin-1 ramp to 177C with a dwell at this temperature for one hour. A pressure of 600 kPa was applied throughout the cure. Mechanical test rig The test performed on the T-stiffened section was a supported peel test, specifically designed as a worstcase loading situation. The test rig comprised a mild steel base plate 20mm thick, with two rectangular sections (75x10 mm) either side of the flange. The rectangular sections were secured with a row of seven M10 high tensile steel fasteners. The web section was clamped with two 230x100x8 mm mild steel plates using a row of seven, M8 high tensile steel fasteners through holes cut in the specimen. Load was applied via a pin and clevis, mounted in line with the short edge of the specimen. Bonding tabs were used to increase the bearing stress of the specimen to minimise fracture at the fastener holes. Tabs were produced from hand laminated glass fibre/epoxy composite produced from 453 gm-2 triaxial fabric and R180 epoxy (Fibre Glass International). Once cured, the tabs were cut to size and

adhesively bonded (Plexus MA310, ITW Plexus) to the web of the Stiffener. No starter cracks were placed in the specimens. Mechanical Testing Testing was completed using a hydraulically driven 385kN MTS test-frame, using a load cell with a calibrated accuracy of 1% over the force range measured. An axial tensile load was applied to one end of the Stiffener at a rate of 2 mm/min until complete separation of the Stiffener and skin was observed. Deflection was measured using an LVDT inside the hydraulic ram of the test frame, in addition to strain gauge measurements and camera footage. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Adhesively bonded T-section via Autoclave The specimens tested displayed an average maximum loading peak of 4.82.1 kN, with loads decaying as the crack progressed along the joint (Figure 6). Photographs of the fracture surfaces (Figure 4) and measurement of part thicknesses after testing revealed that fracture occurred within the mid-ply of the flange (i.e between the Stiffener and Capping plies, Figure 1), with extensive areas of 45 plies visible.

Figure 4: Typical (melded) fracture surface.

Figure 5: Typical (bonded) fracture surfaces.

Force (kN)

Force (kN)
0 2 4 6 8 10

0 0 2 4 6 8

Displacement (mm)

Displacement (mm)

Figure 6: Force-displacement curves of adhesively bonded specimens.

Figure 7: Force-displacement curves of melded specimens.

A combination of interlaminar resin failure, fibre debonding and breakage were noted. Video footage of the long axis of the Stiffener displayed two modes of failure. In the first case, crack initiation started from between the Capping and Stiffener plies, outwards towards the edge of the flange, leaving the wedge-shaped noodle fillet adhered to the Capping plies (Figure 8). Specimens in which this behaviour occurred showed higher than average peak loading. The remaining specimens also fractured along the Capping and Stiffener plies, however fracture did not leave the noodle fillet attached to the lower Capping plies. All specimens showed areas where cracks entered and left the failure plane, leaving plies separated from each other (eg. Frame 3, Figure 9).

Figure 8: Bonded specimen #1 @ 10, 14 and 21 seconds.

Figure 9: Bonded specimen #3 @ 3, 19 and 26 seconds.

Melded T-section via Quickstep The specimens tested displayed an average maximum loading peak of 3.90.1 kN (Figure 7) with failure occurring at the interface of the Capping plies and Skin (0/90 plies Figure 1). Video footage showed that failure was initiated through bending at the flange that progressed towards the centre of the specimen. It is likely that failure was precipitated by the high stress concentration of the lap-joint configuration and

lack of drop-off plies. This stress concentration effect was not present in the bonded specimens, most likely due to the presence of the adhesive layer, which also created a spew fillet. Unlike the bonded specimens, failure in the melded specimens was comparatively cleaner.

Figure 10: Melded specimen #2 @ 10, 19 and 27 seconds.

In the melded specimens, failure was observed to be more inter-laminar in nature with less fibre breakage evident than the adhesively bonded specimens. The difference in the fracture behaviour of melded and bonded specimens may be due to the differences in fracture toughness between the adhesive and matrix, given the low value of the matrix (0.7 MPam0.5) [5]. CONCLUSION There was no experimentally significant difference in the peak loading between Melded and autoclave bonded T-stiffened sections, due to the coinciding error of the test specimens. It was seen however, that the presence of a tougher adhesive phase can significantly alter the mode of failure mode within the part tested. Further refinement of Melding curing cycles and part specific joint design must proceed to enhance the suitability of the technique in a broader context. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The author acknowledges the assistance given by Ivan Stoyanovski and Paul Callus of the Defence Science and Technology Organisation (DSTO), Australia, for the preparation of Autoclave cured specimens. The financial support of the Victorian Centre for Advanced Materials Manufacture is gratefully acknowledged. REFERENCES
[1] A.A. Baker, L.R.F. Rose, R.Jones, Advances in the Bonded Composite Repair of Metallic Aircraft Structure., Elsevier, Sydney, 2002, Chapter 1, p. 4. [2] L.M. Butkus, R.V. Valentin, W.S. Johnson, in Advances in the Bonded Composite Repair of Metallic Aircraft Structure., Elsevier, Sydney, 2002, Chapter. 6, p. 127-136. [3] B. Griffiths, N. Noble, SAMPE J., 40 (2004) 41-46. [4] Tim Corbett, Mark Forrest, Haydn Law, Bronwyn L. Fox., MELDING: A NEW ALTERNATIVE TO ADHESIVE BONDING., Proceedings of the 26th International SAMPE Europe Conference., 2005. [5] HexPly 914 Product Data Sheet, Hexcel Composites, Publication FTA053 (February 1997).