Optimizing the Tensile Performance of Repaired CFRP Laminates with Different Patch Parameters Using a Surrogate-Based Model

In this study, nonlinear Lamb wave-based higher harmonic detection is employed to assess the tensile-induced microdamage in patch-repaired carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) structures. With respect to the external repair design optimization model based on proxy technology, the minimum nonlinear coefficients are obtained from the optimal patch design parameters, thereby improving the tensile performance of the repaired structure and capturing the repair effect of the patch. First, the nonlinear Lamb wave propagation behaviors of patch-repaired CFRP laminates are assessed under different tensile displacements, and the accuracy of the finite-element model strategy is confirmed by experimental results. Second, on the basis of the tensile displacement induced under the highest nonlinear response, the effects of the radius, thickness and rotation angle of the patch on the secondary and tertiary nonlinear coefficients of the composite glued repair structure and the tensile damage area of the matrix are discussed. After the effects of individual parameters on the patch repair structure are analyzed, the effect of multiple target parameters on the quadratic relative acoustic nonlinearity coefficient of the patch repair structure is investigated via a Latin hypercube experimental design and the Diffuse Approximation method, and the optimal solutions for the mesh parameters of the patch repair structure are successfully obtained, which provides a reference for the multiparameter optimization of patch repair structures in engineering cases.