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Carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRPs) inevitably suffer from damage during service. However, conventional repair techniques generally rely on manual operations, resulting in low efficiency and insufficient reliability. Particularly, the unique potential of carbon fiber reinforced thermoplastic polymers (CFRTPs) in repair applications has not yet been fully exploited. Therefore, this study proposes a repair method for CFRTPs, integrating structured light scanning for high-precision modeling of damaged regions, continuous carbon fiber reinforced fused deposition modeling for customized patch fabrication, and ultrasonic welding for efficient interfacial bonding. Experimental results demonstrate that this approach achieves precise geometric reconstruction of damaged areas and high-quality interfacial connections, with a repaired-zone porosity of only 2.23 %. Interface strength exhibited a non-monotonic dependence on welding parameters, peaking at 41.4 MPa. In terms of mechanical properties, the tensile strength and modulus of the repaired CFRTP recover to 81.91 % and 80.05 %, the flexural strength and modulus recover to 83.20 % and 95.55 %, and the compressive strength after impact recovers to 85.72 %. Regarding functional performance, the electromagnetic shielding effectiveness is restored to approximately 90 %, and the thermal conductivity exceeds 95 % recovery. The repair method not only effectively restores the load-bearing capacity of CFRTPs but also enables simultaneous reconstruction of functional performance. This investigation contributes to advancing CFRPs repair technologies toward in-situ and intelligent development pathways. • A repair strategy integrating additive manufacturing and ultrasonic welding. • Delivers strong interfacial bonding with 2.23 % porosity and 41.4 MPa strength. • Restores over 80 % mechanical and 90 % functional performance of CFRTPs. • Advances CFRTPs repair toward intelligent and in-situ restoration approaches.
Guo et al. (Wed,) studied this question.