The certification and quality control of large aerostructures relies on testing of small-scale coupons, which may be unrepresentative of the final product. Edge effects, which are either non-existent or less significant in large aerospace components, cause coupon failure and often lead to considerable strength underpredictions. In this work, a resin treatment is applied to the edges of short beam specimens, resulting in a net strength improvement of 16% and 36% in laminates using two carbon-fibre reinforced plastic material systems. The effects of the treatment are analysed in detail using experiments, computed tomography, high-fidelity linear and non-linear finite element models allowing for damage propagation. The treatment produces interlaminar shear strength predictions which are more representative of those found away from edges in large aerostrucures by reducing interlaminar stresses at the free edges and delaying delamination onset. The procedure can be used to improve testing and weight/cost efficiency of aerospace components.

大型飞机结构的认证和质量控制依赖于对小型样板的测试，而这些样板可能无法代表最终产品。在大型航空航天部件中不存在或不太明显的边缘效应会导致试件失效，并经常导致强度预测不足。在这项工作中，对短梁试样的边缘进行了树脂处理，使用两种碳纤维增强塑料材料系统的层压板的净强度分别提高了16％和36％。使用实验，计算机断层扫描，允许损伤传播的高保真线性和非线性有限元模型对治疗效果进行了详细分析。通过减少自由边缘处的层间应力并延迟分层开始，该处理可产生层间剪切强度预测，从而更能代表大型航空结构中远离边缘的层间剪切强度预测。该程序可用于改善航空航天部件的测试和重量/成本效率。