Cold Spraying Remanufacturing Repair of Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polyether Ether Ketone Composites

Abstract

To address the challenges of low efficiency and inconsistent quality in repairing carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) components, a cold spraying remanufacturing repair process of CFRP was proposed. Using damaged carbon fiber-reinforced polyether ether ketone (CF-PEEK) as the study object, a finite element model of the Laval nozzle and substrate was developed in ANSYS FLUENT to conduct computational fluid dynamics analysis and determine optimal process parameters. Based on the simulation results, cold spray repair experiments were carried out. The performance of the repaired composites was evaluated through tensile strength testing, porosity measurements, and wear resistance testing. The finite element analysis indicated that the optimal experimental parameters were 473K and 1MPa, using repair particles with a size of 75 μm. The tensile strengths of pure polyether ether ketone and CF-PEEK repaired specimens were reached 91.3 and 93.3% of their non-destructive counterparts, respectively. Micro-morphology indicated that the repair layer was well bonded with the substrate, and the porosity and wear resistance were also relatively excellent. These findings demonstrate that cold spraying is a promising on-site repair technology for composite structures. This study provides both theoretical insight and technical guidance for achieving rapid and efficient on-site repair of composites.