Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
Very long thread on PPRuNe about the groundbreaking repair to the fire-damaged ET 787 at Heathrow, nearly 10 years ago now: Ethiopian 787 fire at Heathrow Well worth a read.
The challenge (and benefit) in structural two phase materials is energy spread. Any given panel of composite spreads incoming energy uniformly...Damage which interrupts continuity essentially eliminates the design consideration. A penetration cannot be repaired to restore the panel’s function... A repair involves adhesives, and perhaps metallic thru bolts. Of additional concern is the interruption of the copper mesh inlay, itself a design to mitigate lightning strikes. Evident in the photo is the disruption, showing a carbon fabric and resin. The time involved in mapping the damage, expressed as fracture, puncture, and delamination, is considerable. addendum... regarding the photo of the damage, more troubling than penetration of the skin is the depth of the arc into the dorsal keel. If any.