Aircraft repair is gaining importance for extending the fatigue life of aging aircrafts and also for improving its structural integrity. Among various repair techniques, bonded composite repair is mostly preferred. In this paper, a three-dimensional finite element analysis is carried out to study and compare the performance of single- and double-sided patch on center-cracked aluminum panel. The effects of different parameters such as patch layup, patch thickness and patch material on the stress intensity factor is highlighted. It is shown that the mechanics of double-sided repair is completely different from the single-sided repair. Also, it is found that double-sided repair is more efficient than single-sided repair. In case of single-sided repair, alternative patch material like unbalanced lamina or transversely graded material is proposed. It is observed that there is significant reduction of stress intensity factor with transversely graded patch in case of single-sided repair. © The Author(s) 2012 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions. nav.

Ramji M

Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

R. Srilakshmi

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) is a premier institute of science and technology established in 2008. IITH has been consistently ranked in the&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/reports/" rel="noopener noreferrer">top 10 institutes</a>&nbsp;in India for Engineering&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nirfindia.org/2021/EngineeringRanking.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to NIRF</a>&nbsp;making it one of the most coveted schools for science and technology in the country.

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Journal	Journal of Reinforced Plastics and Composites
ISSN	07316844