Technical Paper
Results from FAA Program to Validate Bonded Composite Doublers for Commercial Aviation Use
1997-08-05
972622
The number of commercial airframes exceeding twenty years of service continues to grow. In addition, Service Life Extension Programs are attempting to extend the “economic” service life of commercial airframes to thirty years. The use of bonded composites may offer the airframe manufacturers and aircraft maintenance facilities a cost effective method to extend the lives of their aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration has sponsored a project at its Airworthiness Assurance NDI Validation Center (AANC) to validate the use of bonded composite doublers on commercial aircraft. A specific application was chosen - reinforcement of an L-1011 door frame - in order to provide the proof-of-concept driving force behind this test and analysis project. However, the data stemming from this study serves as a comprehensive evaluation of bonded composite doublers for general use.