STRUCTURAL PERFORMANCE EFFICIENCY OF DIFFERENT ASSEMBLY METHODS FOR STIFFENED COMPOSITE PANELS

The recent introduction of composite materials in aircraft primary structures has resulted in lower weight and improved performance. these improvements require the development of new design concept and manufacturing techniques for weight and cost efficient structures. current manufacturing approaches are focused on cocurring, where the skin and stiffeners are cured together in a single autoclave cure, and secondary bonding, where stiffeners and skin are cured separately and then bonded together with an adhesive film. for this study, firstly, cocurring and secondary bonding manufacturing techniques were used to produce four stiffened panels. ultrasound c-scan inspection was carried out to detect any defects in the panels and the panels were later tested in compression to verify their structural efficiency of assembling technique. this paper presents the details of different assembly methods, and identifies and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each manufacturing technique.