The experimental static mechanical performance of ironed repaired GFRP–honeycomb sandwich beams.

Damaged glass fibre reinforced plastic–honeycomb core sandwich beams are repaired using uncured glass fibre reinforced plastic fabrics and a handheld iron. The effect of iron temperature, application time and pressure on the effectiveness of repair is investigated by measuring the failure load and flexural stiffness of the repaired beams using third span four-point bending tests. Repairs are tested in compression and tension. A repair process is suggested which consistently recovers 95% of the compressive strength and 77% of the tensile strength of the damaged beam. The repair is shown to have little effect on beam flexural stiffness. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]