ABSTRACT
One proven repair method to extend the service life of sensitized 5xxx series aluminum marine structure is to adhesively bond a composite overlay onto the damaged metallic structure. Continuum mechanics methods are intrinsically deficient for describing multiple arbitrary crack paths making it prohibitive to use standard approaches when modeling the complex fragmentations where cracks interweave due to continuously varying degrees of sensitization in the metal structure. Therefore, a multi-scale formulation of solid mechanics using quantum mechanics and peridynamics for handling discontinuities is demonstrated to investigate the critical level of sensitization for rapid structural failure and to study the effectiveness of the composite overlay in reducing IGSCC propagation. Results show that there is a distinct degree of sensitization level over which rapid failure occurs and the composite patch repair becomes ineffective.
