Life extension of impact damaged honeycomb sandwich panels

The assessment of damage due to impacts in composite sandwich panels and th e component life reductions associated with such damage is becoming increas ingly important within the aerospace industry. This study analyses minimum gauge, non-metallic honeycomb wing panels subject to impact damage. In all instances the damage is caused by 'soft body' impactors travelling at eleva ted velocities to simulate bird strike and other soft debris. The damage fo rmed during these impacts is shown to be large in plan area but shallow and primarily causes crushing of the core in a thin layer. Loading of the pane ls after impact has been performed to determine the reduction in load carry ing capacity and associated failure mechanisms. Damage due to soft body imp act is shown to be very different to the classical rigid body impact upon w hich current repair schemes are based. As a result in many applications the use of current repair schemes may be inappropriate. The viability of new r epair techniques is discussed with particular attention to the prevention o f failure mechanisms due to loading after impact.