Quality Assurance of Composite Bonding Processes

Composite materials are being increasing used on aircraft structures and as they are used in more critical areas, the quality of the adhesives bonds must be assured. Among the various bonding techniques, surface cleanliness is most important for adhesive bonding and especially for fluxless brazing /soldering. Similar problems arise in the painting of aircraft although structural integrity is not involved in this case. Current methods of checking the surface cleanliness leave a lot to be desired as they risk further contamination of the surface and are subject to the skill of the technician performing the test. An operator-friendly non-contact method capable of detecting any contaminant over a large area just prior to bonding is the ideal solution. Space Micro Inc. (SMI) in partnership with San Diego Composites LLC (SDC) proposes to define and develop a novel instrument for quantitatively assessing the bond surface quality of composites and structural metals. The innovation described in this proposal is to select and adapt existing equipment and technology for this application to minimize the technical risk and development time.