Method of reconditioning a composite body

Abstract

According to the present invention there is provided a method of reconditioning a composite body (10) comprising at least one layer of reinforcing material (12) embedded in a thermoset epoxy matrix (14) having a crosslinked network structure. The method comprises identifying a region (16) of the composite body (10) for reconditioning; arranging a temporary barrier (18) on a surface of the composite body (10) to define an application area (22) comprising the identified region (16). The method further comprises applying a dissociation fluid (24) to the surface of the composite body (10) in the application area (22) to at least partially degrade the thermoset epoxy matrix (14) in the application area (22) to thereby dissociate one or more layers of reinforcing material (12) from the thermoset epoxy matrix (14).

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.