It's just a little knock...

Has anyone got a perfect car?
Without a scratch, ding or dent?

Cars are meant to be driven. It's very difficult to prevent a stone chip or stop other drivers bumping your car with their doors, or bumping your bumper. We might not like it, but we are used to it. More often than not we ignore it.

That's the beauty of a metal car or bike. You can see how bad the damage is and you can easily decide if it is usable or not.

What happens when the car or bike isn't made of metal?

With the increasing use of carbon fibre this has become a much more important question.

A keen cyclist recently asked if there was an easy way to see the extent of the damage to their carbon frame. It had suffered a minor crash and looked OK, but they understood that didn't mean it was fine underneath. They wanted to know if it was worth paying for the check or would it just be written off anyway.

The cyclist was right. We do need to look and see the extent of the damage to find out how much the composite structure has been weakened. Then we can assess the type of repair and associated costs involved. (This is one of the main reasons why another extremely keen and talented cyclist friend won't buy a carbon fibre bike).

What do we do when it's an aircraft?
How are they checked for damage?

It's frustrating when your car is out of service awaiting repairs. It's frustrating and much more expensive when it's a plane.

Boeing inspections for lightning strikes

Firstly we need to assess the damage, then decide how best to repair it. We need to remove the damaged material and put back new composite, ensuring we maintain the strength and integrity of the part. Finally, we ask if it's possible to prevent that damage happening in the future.

Over the last 10 years we have worked with an increasing number of aerospace companies, car manufacturers, boat builders, bike manufacturers, F1 teams and individuals looking at repair.

We have seen numerous developments in inspection equipment which have made it easier to see the extent of the damage. (if you aren't aware of these, have a look at this website:
JR technologies Ltd).

It is getting easier to assess the damage, but the quality of the repair was still highly dependent on the skill of the person conducting the repair.

It was these difficulties in consistency which lead to our developing our Step Sander. We spent years developing a tool, using our own experience and that of our customer's and course delegates, to produce a way of conducting faster (dust free repairs) even over curves.
I won't tell you about it here, I'm sure you know about it already.  (If you haven't seen it in action click here to see it).

Everyone who tried it loved it, but some needed a smaller version, which would cover tighter curvature. Our prime aim is to give us customers what they really want, so this is what came next.   (More information about this one coming soon).

How easy is it to use, really?

Having never tried to make a composite repair I decided I'd better try using the tool myself. I've seen it in use (and I love PrePreg, including core & sandwich structures), but making parts isn't the same as repairing them.

My results weren't perfect, but they aren't too bad either and it took no time at all.

There's a lot to learn about composite repair:

You need to know how to assess the damage
You need to know how a composite part is made in order to repair it (if you don't know, you need to know how to find out!)
You need to know how to remove the damage and replace the materials.
You need to do it safely (looking after yourself and any sensitive equipment like electronics).
You need to know how to cure those materials and finish the part to a high standard.

If any of this if of interest to you, come along to our Repair courses.  We will show you how to do all this and more.

Composites Repair Course Overview