Assessment of damage tolerance approaches for composite aircraft with focus on barely visible impact damage

Industry practice in composite aircraft damage tolerance, as reported in the open literature, is reviewed and examined in view of the current knowledge in the field of damage and failure of composite materials. Particular attention is paid to the challenging regime of damage tolerance when barely visible impact damage (BVID) is of concern. The validity of the compression after impact (CAI) testing as a means of assuring safety against failure from BVID is critically assessed. The role of in-field nondestructive evaluation (NDE) for quantifying the damage severity is considered as an integral part of the damage tolerance assessment. Finally, recommendations are made toward exploring other avenues for improving the current damage tolerance approaches as they apply to the case of BVID in composite structures.