Patent ID: 7736452

Claim:
A method of non-destructively testing a bond comprising the following steps: providing an aircraft component including a first site at which said bond is required, wherein the aircraft component is a laminated composite material structure, forming the bond with bonding material at the first site, bonding a test element at a second site of the aircraft component thereby forming a test bond, the second site being in the vicinity of the first site, the test element being so arranged that, after bonding the test element, the strength of the test bond may be assessed, wherein the test element is bonded to the aircraft component with the use of material that is the same as the bonding material, and the conditions to which the second site is subjected during the forming of the test bond are substantially the same as the conditions during the forming of the first site bond, and after the forming of the first site bond, non-destructively assessing the strength of the first site bond by measuring the strength of the test bond by applying a force to the test element, and the steps of forming a bond and of bonding a test element incorporate the use of at least one ply of laminate composite material.