This standard identifies the competences you need to carry out bonding activities on aircraft composite mouldings, in accordance with approved procedures. You will be required to follow the appropriate instructions, drawings, specifications and documentation to bond aircraft composite materials, using the correct techniques and procedures.

You will produce a range of bonded composite mouldings, incorporating a variety of features and using a range of techniques and processes. Bonded mouldings produced will include a range of resin, fibre and adhesive materials.

Your responsibilities will require you to comply with organisational policy and procedures for the composite bonding activities undertaken, and to report any problems with the bonding activities, equipment or materials that you cannot personally resolve, or are outside your permitted authority, to the relevant people. You will need to ensure that all tools, equipment and materials used in the bonding process are correctly accounted for on completion of the activities, and you must complete all necessary job/task documentation accurately and legibly.

You will be expected to work either with a high level of supervision or as a member of a team, and you will take personal responsibility for your own actions and for the quality and accuracy of the work that you carry out. Where team working is involved, you must demonstrate a significant personal contribution during the team activities in order to satisfy the requirements of this standard, and you must demonstrate competence in all the areas required by the standard.

Your underpinning knowledge will be sufficient to provide a sound basis for your work, and will provide an informed approach to applying the appropriate composite bonding techniques and procedures. You will understand the bonding procedures and techniques used, and will know about the tools and techniques, in adequate depth to provide a sound basis for carrying out the activities to the required specification.

You will understand the safety precautions required when carrying out the composite bonding activities, and when using the associated tools and equipment. You will be required to demonstrate safe working practices throughout. You will also understand your responsibilities for safety, and the importance of taking the necessary safeguards to protect yourself and others in the workplace.

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1. work safely at all times, complying with health and safety legislation, regulations, directives and other relevant guidelines
2. follow the relevant bonding procedure specification and job instructions
3. check that the materials to be bonded and bonding agents comply with the specification
4. correctly prepare the parent materials and bonding agents in line with the bonding specification
5. carry out the bonding operations using the specified processes and techniques to position and bond the materials in their correct locations
6. ensure that any equipment used to maintain surface contact during the bonding activities is set up and used correctly
7. achieve bonds of the required quality and within the specified dimensional accuracy
8. deal promptly and effectively with problems within your control and report those that cannot be solved

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1. the specific safety practices and procedures that you need to observe when working with composite materials, bonding materials, consumables and associated tools and equipment
2. the hazards associated with bonding composite materials and consumables, and with the tools and equipment used, and how to minimise these hazards in the work area
3. the importance of good workshop practice and house keeping; ventilation and fume control equipment; first aid procedures and actions
4. the personal protective clothing and equipment (PPE) to be worn when carrying out bonding activities (such as gloves, eye protection, respiratory protection) and, where appropriate, for the protection of others
5. the application of COSHH regulations in relation to the storage, use and disposal of bonding/composite materials and consumables
6. the specific workshop environmental conditions the must be observed when bonding aircraft composite materials (such as temperature, humidity, styrene levels to threshold limits, fume/dust extraction systems and equipment)
7. how to use and extract information from engineering drawings and related specifications (to include symbols and conventions to appropriate BS or ISO standards), in relation to work undertaken
8. how to use imperial and metric systems of measurement, workpiece reference points and system of tolerancing
9. the conventions and terminology used for bonding (such as gel points, cure times, bond thickness, bond strength, peel strength)
10. methods of preparing components and producing a keying surface (water and solvent cleaning, degreasing, abrading, acid etching, priming)
11. the importance of working to organisational and bonding agent manufacturers' instructions whilst carrying out the bonding activities
12. the effects of the environment on the bonding process (such as temperature, humidity, cleanliness)
13. the methods and techniques used for bonding the materials (such as gluing, impact, chemical and thermal reaction techniques, bagging and positive pressure techniques)
14. the procedures for selecting the correct type of adhesive, and the pre-treatment requirements, setting or curing requirements; and time, strength and appearance
15. the use and precautions to be taken when using adhesives and solvents, and the correct methods of storage and handling of bonding agents
16. bonding agent equipment (holding vessels, brushes, stirrers and spatulas, scrapers, knives, clamps and weights)
17. methods of application for different bonding agents
18. reasons for checking that components are assembled in the correct sequence, are positioned dimensionally accurately and to the correct orientation, in accordance with the specifications, prior to bonding
19. how to check that completed joints are firm, sound and fit for purpose (types of failure mode, effect of poor pressure application, the effect of inadequate curing)
20. the procedures for applying bonding pressures to the joints during the curing cycle
21. procedures for cleaning off surplus adhesive and tidying up the appearance of joints
22. the procedures when temperature cure is used, and the need for thermocouples on temperature control
23. common causes of defects associated with the bonding processes, and how to avoid them
24. the tools and equipment used in bonding activities, and their care, preparation and control procedures
25. why tool/equipment control is critical and what to do if a tool or piece of equipment is unaccounted for on completion of the activities
26. the quality control procedures to be followed during the bonding operations
27. the procedure for the safe disposal and correct separation of waste materials
28. the recording documentation to be completed for the bonding activities undertaken and, where appropriate, the importance of marking and identifying specific pieces of work in relation to the documentation
29. the extent of your own authority, and whom you should report to if you have problems that you cannot resolve

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1. Carry out all of the following during the composite bonding activities:

   1. ensure that you have the correct documentation for the bonding operations (such as drawings, job instructions, aircraft standards)
   2. adhere to procedures or systems in place for risk assessment, COSHH, personal protective equipment and other relevant safety regulations
   3. check that mouldings are of the correct type, complete and free from defects
   4. correctly prepare the materials for bonding
   5. check that the surfaces to be bonded mate properly to make a sound joint possible
   6. ensure that the joint is rigidly secured during the curing period
   7. remove any surplus material, and clean up at the appropriate time
   8. identify and protect the moulding and bonding materials in the work area
   9. dispose of waste items and materials in a safe and environmentally acceptable manner, in line with company procedures
   10. return all tools and equipment to the correct location on completion of the activities
   11. leave the work area in a safe condition and free from foreign object debris

2. Prepare the surfaces to be bonded, using three of the following methods:

   1. peel plies             
   2. abrading                 
   3. water cleaning     
   4. dry fitting              
   5. priming
   6. templates              
   7. bead blasting          
   8. solvent cleaning   
   9. acid etching         
   10. surface masks

3. Bond composite mouldings, using techniques for two of the following:

   1. one-part pastes          
   2. contact two-part adhesives      
   3. acrylics                  
   4. syntactic films
   5. two-part pastes          
   6. film adhesives

4. Use two of the following methods when bonding the composite mouldings:

   1. dry fitting                          
   2. mixing adhesives           
   3. laying film adhesives
   4. bonding sequences           
   5. wetting-out by brush      
   6. spraying equipment
   7. shimming materials           
   8. applicator gun

5. Use one of the following to retain the bond during the curing process:

   1. weighting down          
   2. pinning joints         
   3. clamping    
   4. press
   5. vacuum bagging
   6. bonding jigs   
   7. pressure bagging

6. Use one of the following to aid the curing process:

   1. oven                                              
   2. infra-red lamps
   3. self-heating tooling                         
   4. heated presses
   5. autoclaves
   6. controlled heating mats

7. Bond composite mouldings, using techniques for one of the following:

   1. sandwich panels        
   2. butt joins       
   3. overlap joins           
   4. joggle joins
   5. return joins

8. Bond composite mouldings, using techniques for two of the following:

   1. flat surfaces                      
   2. double curvatures             
   3. internal surfaces    
   4. external surfaces
   5. convex/concave shapes

9. Use appropriate techniques for bonding one of the following materials to the composite moulding:

   1. plastics
   2. metals                                                    
   3. wood-based materials
   4. ceramics
   5. other composites

10. Bond composite mouldings, using adhesives suitable for both of the following:

    1. resins (such as polyester, epoxy, phenolic, bismaleimide, cyanate ester, vinyl ester, acrylic)
    2. fibres (such as polyethylene, glass, aramid, carbon, hybrid, other specific types)

11. Bond a range of mouldings, in compliance with one of the following standards:

    1. Civil Aviation Authority (CAA)                                       
    2. Ministry of Defence (MoD)                                           
    3. customer standards and requirements
    4. Federal Aviation Authority (FAA)                                 
    5. company standards and procedures

12. Complete the relevant paperwork, to include one from the following, and pass it to the appropriate people:

    1. production documentation                                             
    2. build records
    3. quality control documentation                                       
    4. other specific records

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​Additional Information

You will be able to apply the appropriate behaviours required in the workplace to meet the job profile and overall company objectives, such as:

• strong work ethic
• positive attitude
• team player
• dependability
• responsibility
• honesty
• integrity
• motivation
• commitment

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2

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31 Mar 2020

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Current

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Original

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Semta

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SEMAER2-27

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Engineering, Engineering and Manufacturing Technologies, Engineering Professionals, Science and Engineering Technicians

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5234

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Aeronautical; Engineering; bonding; drawings; resin; fibre and adhesive materials; bonded composite mouldings

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