ANALYSIS OF OUT-OF-PLANE BENDING IN ONE-SIDED BONDED REPAIR

An un-supported cracked plate repaired with a reinforcement bonded on one side may experience a considerable out-of-plane bending, resulting mainly from the load-path eccentricity. A geometrically linear analys is is presented in this paper for the crack extension force after the application of a one-sided repair. It is found that although the stres s intensity factor K for a one-sided repair is higher than in two-side d repairs where there is no bending present, the key feature is retain ed that K does not increase indefinitely with increasing crack length, but instead approaches asymptotically a finite upper-bound correspond ing to the solution for a semi-infinite crack. An analytical expressio n is derived for this upper bound, which provides a conservative estim ate suitable for design purposes and parametric studies. This analytic al solution is shown to agree well with a fully three-dimensional fini te element analysis. Strategies to minimize the detrimental effect of out-of-plane bending are briefly discussed. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd.