Nonlinear analysis of a composite panel with a cutout repaired by a bonded tapered composite patch

This study presents a solution method to analyze the geometrically nonlinear response of a patch-repaired flat panel (skin) with a cutout under general loading conditions. The effect of induced stiffening due to tensile loading on the inplane and, particularly, the out-of-plane behaviors of the patch-repaired skin are investigated. The damage to the skin is represented in the form of a cutout under the patch. The patch with tapered edges is free of external tractions. The skin is subjected to general boundary and loading conditions along its external edge. The solution method provides the transverse shear and normal stresses in the adhesive between the skin and the patch, and in-plane and bending stresses in the patch and skin. Both the patch and skin are made of linearly elastic composite laminates, and the adhesive between them is homogeneous and isotropic, exhibiting a bi-linear elastic behavior. Modified Green s strain–displacement relations in conjunction with von Karman assumptions are employed in determining the in-plane strains in the skin and patch; however, the transverse shear strains in the adhesive are determined based on the shear-lag theory. The present solution method utilizes the principle of virtual work in conjunction with complex potential functions.