Review on the performance improvements and non-destructive testing of patches repaired composites

The composites patch is an effective method to repair metal and composite parts while keeping the weight of repaired structures almost constant. This review focuses on the improvements of repair performance and the applications of non-destructive testing technologies on composites patch repair from four aspects such as optimization design of patch, effects of adhesive on repair efficiency, improvements of repair methods and non-destructive testing on repair evaluation. More importantly, this review discusses the applications of acoustic emission, digital image correlation, infrared thermography technology and X-ray micro-computed tomography in studying the mechanical performance and failure mechanism of repaired structures. Finally, some prospects about the further developments of composites patch repair method and further development applications of NDT technologies were proposed.