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Repair of Damaged Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites with Cold Spray

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Abstract

The promising structural properties of fiber-reinforced polymer composites make them widely popular in the energy, automotive, defense, and aerospace industries. One of the most challenging limitations associated with the application of composites is their maintenance and repair. In this study, a polymer cold spray approach is introduced as an efficient alternative for the structural repair of fiber-reinforced polymer composites, without the use of additional repair media. Damage in the form of circular tapered holes is created in glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) composite substrates using conventional drilling. This damage is repaired by cold spray with thermoplastic (nylon 6) and thermosetting (polyester epoxy resin) materials. The fundamental adhesion mechanisms near the repair surface are investigated through microstructural observations and highlight the role of adiabatic shear instability due to the occurrence of severe plastic deformation in the particle impact zone. Microstructural examinations also suggest that no significant fiber damage or surface degradation occurs due to the repair by cold spray. Mechanical tests performed on neat, damaged, and repaired composites reveal the partial recovery of structural performance and load-bearing capacity after cold spray repair. Additionally, the cold spray-repaired GFRP samples are compared with conventional epoxy resin repair methods. Results obtained in this work highlight cold spray as a promising and rapid technique for the on-site repair of composite structures with minimal pre-/post-processing requirements.

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Acknowledgments

This research was supported by Army Research Laboratory contract W911NF-19-2-0152. The views and conclusions contained in this document are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as representing the official policies, either expressed or implied, of the U.S. Army Research Laboratory or the U.S. Government. The U.S. Government is authorized to reproduce and distribute reprints for Government purposes, notwithstanding any copyright notation herein. The research leading to this work was also sponsored by the Wind Institute Fellowship, sponsored by NJEDA through Rowan University (Fellowship recipient: I.A. Anni).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro, NJ, 08028, USA

    Ibnaj Anamika Anni, Madison S. Kaminskyj, Kazi Zahir Uddin, Francis M. Haas & Behrad Koohbor

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Rowan University, 201 Mullica Hill Rd., Glassboro, NJ, 08028, USA

    Joseph F. Stanzione III

  3. Advanced Materials and Manufacturing Institute, Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, USA

    Joseph F. Stanzione III, Francis M. Haas & Behrad Koohbor

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  1. Ibnaj Anamika Anni
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  2. Madison S. Kaminskyj
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  3. Kazi Zahir Uddin
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  4. Joseph F. Stanzione III
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  5. Francis M. Haas
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  6. Behrad Koohbor
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Correspondence to Behrad Koohbor.

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This article is an invited paper selected from presentations at the 2023 International Thermal Spray Conference, held May 22-25, 2023, in Québec City, Canada, and has been expanded from the original presentation. The issue was organized by Giovanni Bolelli, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (Lead Editor); Emine Bakan, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH; Partha Pratim Bandyopadhyay, Indian Institute of Technology, Karaghpur; Šárka Houdková, University of West Bohemia; Yuji Ichikawa, Tohoku University; Heli Koivuluoto, Tampere University; Yuk-Chiu Lau, General Electric Power (Retired); Hua Li, Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, CAS; Dheepa Srinivasan, Pratt & Whitney; and Filofteia-Laura Toma, Fraunhofer Institute for Material and Beam Technology.

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Anni, I.A., Kaminskyj, M.S., Uddin, K.Z. et al. Repair of Damaged Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Composites with Cold Spray. J Therm Spray Tech 33, 583–595 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-024-01721-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11666-024-01721-7

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