LAUSR

In this paper, the configuration parameters of pre-designed composite patch repair are optimized with the aim of achieving the highest level of stability of crack growth in aluminum in the presence of some constraints such as weight, load sustainability, shear stress in the adhesive layer and maximum stress in the patch. For this purpose, the patch is modeled in full scale by ABAQUS, a commercial finite element code. The crack growth process is simulated with the extended finite element method under uniaxial tensile loading, and the Cohesive Zone Model is used to model the progressive damage in the adhesive of the composite patch repair. Also, sensitivity analysis is performed on the configuration parameters and it is shown that three parameters, i.e. width, stiffness ratio, and height of the patch are more important. Nonlinear fracture mechanics concepts have been used in calculating the stability of crack in the cracked aluminum plate. The results show that optimization based on the method proposed in this paper causes the stability of crack growth to increase by 21% while the patch weight is reduced by 52%.