Investigation of erosion resistance in aircraft composite structures

Today, the primary goal is to design and produce high-performance, low-cost and safe lighter aircraft. In line with these requirements, new production methods and new materials are needed. In order to increase aircraft performance, stainless steels, alloys and composite materials have begun to be used to reduce structural weight (instead of the commonly used steel, aluminum, etc.). Compared to traditional aircraft materials, high strength, rigidity, impact and fatigue resistance, thermal conductivity and corrosion resistance are better in composite materials. It is essential to ensure safety, which is the basis of aviation, and damages/accidents may occur when the materials used in the sector lose their properties over time due to the effects of operating conditions (humid, dusty, hot, cold, etc.). One of the factors that cause unwanted accidents and damage is wear. Depending on operating conditions, many different types of wear are encountered on aircraft and aircraft parts. One of these is erosive wear, that is, the wear caused by the continuous impact of solid particles on a surface. The simplest example is rain droplets (dust particles in the air) hitting an airplane and can cause erosive wear. In solid particle erosion wear; Particle size, type, shape, impact angle, speed, hardness of the particle abrasive material, flow rate and material properties, environmental effects are the most basic parameters. It was determined as a sample material to increase the erosive wear resistance of the composite material used as a coating material on aircraft control surfaces and to examine the wear condition. In this study, composite sample materials were obtained by adding two layers of carbon and one layer of S-glass fabric and silica into the resin at the rate of 0%, 1%, 3% and 5% of the resin weight during the manufacturing phase. The samples we prepared for the experiment were subjected to solid particle abrasion testing at 30º, 60º, 90º impact angles and twice as long at 60º angle. Erosion rates were calculated for each sample and surface damage of the samples was examined and visualized with a scanning electron microscope and endoscopic camera. As a result of the experiments, it was aimed to examine the effects of the silica material added into the resin, impact angle and application time on the erosion rate. As a result of the study, it was seen that silica added to the resin as an additive increased the erosion resistance of the composite material, the most wear occurred at low particle impact angle (30º), the wear time and wear amount increased proportionally, and the samples exhibited ductile and semi-ductile wear behavior.