US-12617164-B2 - Delamination and edge damage repair on thermoplastic composites

Abstract

A method of repairing a thermoplastic composite material is disclosed herein. The method includes placing the thermoplastic composite material on a supporting anvil, placing an energy transmission material on top of the thermoplastic composite material, and applying an ultrasonic welder to the thermoplastic composite material to consolidate and repair the thermoplastic composite material. Another method of repairing a thermoplastic composite material is disclosed herein. The method includes placing an energy transmission material on a supporting anvil, placing the thermoplastic composite material on top of the energy transmission material, and applying an ultrasonic welder to the energy transmission material to consolidate and repair the thermoplastic composite material.

Inventors

• SHYAN BOB SHEN
• Michael Van Tooren
• Christian Soria
• Taylor J Mehelic
• Jeffrey D Woods
• ROBERTO RAMOS

Assignees

• ROHR, INC.

Dates

Publication Date

20260505

Application Date

20240110

Claims (20)

1. 1 . A method of repairing a thermoplastic composite material, comprising: placing an energy transmission material on a supporting anvil; placing the thermoplastic composite material on top of the energy transmission material, the thermoplastic composite material including at least one of delamination, a single edge damage, or a plural edge damage; and applying an ultrasonic welder to the energy transmission material to consolidate and repair the thermoplastic composite material.
2. 2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: creating the energy transmission material including a soft plastic and/or an elastomer.
3. 3 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the creating the energy transmission material further comprises: forming a matrix of an elastomeric material; and forming a fiber reinforcement in the matrix of the elastomeric material.
4. 4 . The method of claim 2 , wherein the creating the energy transmission material further comprises forming a plurality of layers including: forming a first layer of the plurality of layers; forming a second layer of the plurality of layers on the first layer; and forming a third layer of the plurality of layers on the second layer.
5. 5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein at least one of the plurality of layers includes a flexible elastomeric material.
6. 6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of layers includes a rigid material.
7. 7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the energy transmission material is a flexible body.
8. 8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the energy transmission material includes a flexible elastomeric material.
9. 9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the flexible elastomeric material includes polytetrafluoroethylene, fluoroelastomer, silicone rubber, chlorosulphonated polyethene rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer, or hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber and polyurethane.
10. 10 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising: forming the energy transmission material of a plurality of layers, wherein at least one layer includes a flexible elastomeric material and at least one other layer includes a rigid material.
11. 11 . A method of repairing a thermoplastic composite material, comprising: placing the thermoplastic composite material on a supporting anvil, the thermoplastic composite material including at least one of delamination, a single edge damage, or a plural edge damage; placing an energy transmission material on top of the thermoplastic composite material; and applying an ultrasonic welder to the thermoplastic composite material to consolidate and repair the thermoplastic composite material.
12. 12 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: creating the energy transmission material including a soft plastic and/or an elastomer.
13. 13 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the creating the energy transmission material further comprises: forming a matrix of an elastomeric material; and forming a fiber reinforcement in the matrix of the elastomeric material.
14. 14 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the creating the energy transmission material further comprises forming a plurality of layers including: forming a first layer of the plurality of layers; forming a second layer of the plurality of layers on the first layer; and forming a third layer of the plurality of layers on the second layer.
15. 15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein at least one of the plurality of layers includes a flexible elastomeric material.
16. 16 . The method of claim 14 , wherein the at least one of the plurality of layers includes a rigid material.
17. 17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the energy transmission material is a flexible body.
18. 18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the energy transmission material includes a flexible elastomeric material.
19. 19 . The method of claim 18 , wherein the flexible elastomeric material includes polytetrafluoroethylene, fluoroelastomer, silicone rubber, chlorosulphonated polyethene rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer, or hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber and polyurethane.
20. 20 . The method of claim 11 , further comprising: forming the energy transmission material of a plurality of layers, wherein at least one layer includes a flexible elastomeric material and at least one other layer includes a rigid material.

Description

FIELD The present disclosure generally relates to the field of aerostructures, and more particularly, to damage repair of thermoplastic composites. BACKGROUND An aircraft may include several aerostructures including a fuselage, interior parts, wings, a tail assembly, and nacelles, among others. Flight control surfaces, such as the wings and the tail, are configured to affect the yaw, roll and pitch of the aircraft during flight. Such flight control surfaces may include, for example, ailerons to affect the roll about a longitudinal axis, a rudder to affect the yaw about a vertical axis and an elevator to affect the pitch about a lateral axis, each axis being with respect to a coordinate system associated with the aircraft. Additional flight control surfaces include trailing edge flaps configured to affect the lift of a wing, leading edge slats configured to affect the stall speed of a wing and spoilers, generally located adjacent to and forward of the trailing edge flaps and configured to disrupt the airflow over a wing surface to reduce lift or to increase drag. Flight control surfaces are typically airfoil-like components configured to alter the flow of air about the wings or tail structure of the aircraft. Aerostructures, such as the fuselage and nacelles are configured to protect other structures, such as internal portions of the aircraft and the engines, respectively. Notwithstanding the simple shapes, aerostructures should possess sufficient structural integrity to withstand the forces applied during use over the operational life of the aircraft. Aerostructure exhibiting low weight and high strength may be fabricated thermoplastic materials. Thermoplastic materials are increasingly being used in various aerospace applications for the combination of benefits as light weight, high toughness, no storage time limit at room temperature, fast fabrication, fast assembly and suitable for automated manufacturing. SUMMARY Disclosed herein is a method of repairing a thermoplastic composite material. The method includes placing an energy transmission material on a supporting anvil, placing the thermoplastic composite material on top of the energy transmission material, the thermoplastic composite material including at least one of delamination, a single edge damage, or a plural edge damage, and applying an ultrasonic welder to the energy transmission material to consolidate and repair the thermoplastic composite material. In various embodiments, the method further includes creating the energy transmission material including a soft plastic and/or an elastomer. In various embodiments, the creating the energy transmission material further includes forming a matrix of an elastomeric material and forming a fiber reinforcement in the matrix of the elastomeric material. In various embodiments, the creating the energy transmission material further includes forming a plurality of layers including forming a first layer of the plurality of layers, forming a second layer of the plurality of layers on the first layer, and forming a third layer of the plurality of layers on the second layer. In various embodiments, at least one of the plurality of layers includes a flexible elastomeric material. In various embodiments, the at least one of the plurality of layers includes a rigid material. In various embodiments, the energy transmission material is a flexible body. In various embodiments, the energy transmission material includes a flexible elastomeric material. In various embodiments, the flexible elastomeric material includes polytetrafluoroethylene, fluoroelastomer, silicone rubber, chlorosulphonated polyethene rubber, ethylene-propylene-diene monomer, or hydrogenated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber and polyurethane. In various embodiments, the method further includes forming the energy transmission material of a plurality of layers, wherein at least one layer includes a flexible elastomeric material and at least one other layer includes a rigid material. Also disclosed herein is a method of repairing a thermoplastic composite material. The method includes placing the thermoplastic composite material on a supporting anvil, the thermoplastic composite material including at least one of delamination, a single edge damage, or a plural edge damage, placing an energy transmission material on top of the thermoplastic composite material, and applying an ultrasonic welder to the thermoplastic composite material to consolidate and repair the thermoplastic composite material. In various embodiments, the method further includes creating the energy transmission material including a soft plastic and/or an elastomer. In various embodiments, the creating the energy transmission material further includes forming a matrix of an elastomeric material and forming a fiber reinforcement in the matrix of the elastomeric material. In various embodiments, the creating the energy transmission material further includes forming a plurality of layers incl