INTRODUCTION: Repair must be carried out in accordance with the appropriate Repair

Manual or approved repair drawings relative thereto in addition with other related
information contained in other documents. In case of Structural Repairs of aircraft which
should be undertaken for the airworthiness of the aircraft must be carried out under the
supervision of inspection organization or appropriately licensed engineer.

PREPARATION OF REPORT:

PRELIMINARY SURVEY OF DAMAGE: Details of the inspection are generally given in

the Repair Manual which is necessary before repair and the methods of assessing the
extent of damage, supporting the structure, checking alignment and geometry, and
assessing allowance for limit of wear.

This preliminary survey enables the initial classification that can only established by the
damage and make a decision of the preparations necessary before commencing the
repair.

Depending on the result of preliminary survey, it may be necessary to remove

components which could be negligible, repairable or necessitating replacement.

Preliminary survey may require the cleaning of the structure to establish damage. It may
include correct cleaning of fluids, removal of corrosion. It is important to remove all
traces of fire extinguishers and smoke deposits. A proper care should be taken while
cleaning so that no useful evidence is lost.

INSPECTION BEFORE REPAIR:

If the preliminary survey reveals any outward indication of a structural damage then it
can be caused from cracks, corrosion, fatigue, fire, overload, scores and abrasions,
bolted joints etc.,

If the preliminary survey could not reveal outward sign of distortion then there will be
need of Internal Inspection.

Internal Inspection is very important because damage or defects may be present even
without any outward indication. In case of extension damage, in few instances whole
structure should be inspected.

The Inspection should be carried out as soon as possible in order to rectify the damage
and ensure there is no other damage with that particular incident. And it should be
rectified by the reference of Repair Manual.
Depending upon the nature of the damage the following inspection procedures are to be
carried out:

 If Visual Inspection is not completely satisfactory especially at some points of

concentrated stress, then any one method from non-destructive examination
should be carried out.
 Check the bolts and bolted joints around the area of damage occurred or the
suspected area of damage for safety of the structure. If there is no sign of the
movement of bolt or bolted joints is detected then a sample inspection of removal
of bolts should be carried out.
 Check the corrosion on the structure as it could affect the amount of damage.
Evidence is the most important thing to be found for corrosion because the
method of inspecting the damage and its rectification mostly depends on the
nature and extent of the damage. In case of any further doubts, the use of the
non-destructive testing methods will be preferable.

From the above Inspection carried out, the dye penetrant method would be the most
suitable NDT method for the damage to be inspected before repair. The reasons for
choosing dye penetrant method are as follows:
The dye penetrant methods are mainly used to detect small cracks in non-ferrous and
non-magnetic ferrous alloys in aircraft structures. The cracks caused by fatigue or
shrinkage, porosity and cold shut, or any failure of a bond between metals can be
detected by this process.
There are three methods used in dye penetrant NDT test to clean the structure before
and after a repair is done, and can also used if any dye remaining on the surfaces of the
parts after the expiry of the penetration time. The three methods are:
1) Water Wash Method.
2) Post Emulsifiable Method.
3) Solvent Removable Method.

In all the above mentioned three methods, Solvent Removable Method is mostly
preferable for field inspections where there is no water supply for water washable or
post-emulsification penetrant. This process is especially used for the detection of stress
or intergranular corrosion.

NON DESTRUCTIVE TESTING PROCEDURE:

Surface Preparation: Surface must be cleaned before penetrant is applied. Surface

must be cleaned to remove oil, grease and other impurities that could cause false
indication. Ensure to remove the paint or any other solid coating present on the wing.
After the surface has been cleaned, make sure to wipe the surface with clean, dry paper
towels or rags. If the dirt is still found, then reclean the surface. Then apply the
penetrant on the surface of the part to be inspected.

Penetrant Application: The parts must be allowed to stand for 15 minutes after applying
the penetrant and then it should be examined in a dark room under the ultra-violet rays.
The parts are dipped in the emulsifier up to maximum time required to give a good
water wash. The part removed from the emulsifier is dried and treated with a dry
develop, and then the defects of the damage part is inspected.

Interpretation of defects: All defects should be marked before the penetrant is removed.
Defects are indicated by greenish yellow marks which are viewed under a ultra-violet
lamp.

REPAIR REPORT:

In some cases, it may be necessary to cut away the whole damaged material and dress
back the surrounding structure. It is to be ensured that no material is cut more than the
requirement and make sure that the adjacent structure of the damaged part is in sound
condition.

The repair of the damaged material is categorized by it’s allow ability, is it repairable by
patching, insertion or replacement of the material.

Details of all the repair work, the procedures involved in repair of the damage, reference
numbers and any other relevant details of the approved repair schemes should be
mentioned in the repair report. May be additional maintenance work is required to be
carried out during the repair work.

CONCLUSION:

Preliminary survey of damage should be carried out in Preparation of report.

Establishment of damage is found out in preliminary survey then inspection is carried
out. Inspection before repair reveals the locality and material which has been damaged.
It also reveals the way of damage, i.e. minor or major. Depending upon the damage,
method of the repair is chosen i.e. non destructive testing method is chosen and then
repair work is carried out. After the repair is carried out, the proper repair report is to be
submitted.

REFERENCES:
 Douglas C. Latia. Non Destructive Testing for Aircraft – Jeppesen.
 Civil Aviation Inspection Procedures Volume one and volume two Aircraft.
 NDT Standard Practice Manual – McDonnell Douglas Corporation (Revision-3),
1996.
 ASNT Nondestructive testing Handbook – Volume – Nine 1996.
 ASNT Nondestructive testing Handbook –Volume –Ten 1996.