Identifying and Remedying Multiple Trace Contaminants in Manufacturing Environment to Prevent Bond Failure

Aerospace manufacturing and repair environments are dependent on the formation of reliable structural bonds, which require chemically clean and activated surfaces. However, in practical manufacturing environments, long and uncontrolled periods between surface preparation and bonding are common, which can introduce contamination to the bonding surface, thereby decreasing reliability and performance of the bond. Prevention, detection, and remediation of contaminants on the surface will allow peak bond performance to be realized. Phase II will expand upon the range of contaminants that were studied in Phase I to include many materials found in current aerospace bonding environments. The ability to identify which contaminant is on the surface can also direct which remediation steps are necessary for surface preparation. Phase II will develop several techniques for detection of detrimental levels of contamination on composite surfaces to a level that is deployable in manufacturing and MRO environments. Finally, Phase II will demonstrate novel methods for protection of prepared bond surfaces as well as methods for remediation of compromised surfaces. The work proposed here will provide techniques for prevention, detection, and remediation of contaminants for aerospace structural bonds.