Evaluation of Repair Techniques for Sheet Metal and Composite Structures in Airline Operations

Abstract

The thesis offers a comparative analysis of the repair methods of sheet metal and composite aircraft structures in terms of systematic literature review of more than 40 authoritative sources. The paper compares riveted, bolted and bonded repairs on aluminum structures, scarf, step-sanded, external patch, bolted, and injection repair on composite structures in the commercial aviation. The most important results indicate that sheet metal repairs are more flexible in operation and that the various acceptable techniques have been able to restore 80-100 percent of the original strength, whereas composite repairs perform better (80-95 percent in scarf repairs) but need specialized equipment and controlled environments and highly qualified workers. The study determines trade-offs that are critical in terms of structural performance, operational feasibility, time requirements, and cost considerations and the effect of trade-offs on maintenance decision-making. Maintenance organization-specific advice and recommendations regarding capacity development roadmap and workforce training priorities in maintenance organizations are also presented depending on the fleet size. This paper determines decision support systems that optimize the technical performance against operational limit to guarantee airworthiness and cost efficiency in current maintenance processes in aircraft.