POLYMER MATRIX COMPOSITES HAVE BEEN INCREASINGLY ADOPTED IN STRUCTURAL APPLICATIONS PARTICULARLY IN THE AEROSPACE INDUSTRY DUE TO THEIR MANY ADVANTAGEOUS PROPERTIES SUCH AS TAILORABILITY HIGH STRENGTH RESISTANCE TO CORROSION AND HIGH FATIGUE AND DURABILITY PERFORMANCE. OFTEN THESE COMPOSITE STRUCTURES ARE JOINED OR REPAIRED BY ADHESIVE BONDING TECHNIQUES. THE USE OF BONDED COMPOSITE COMPONENTS IN PRIMARY STRUCTURES REQUIRES A CLEAR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ADHESIVE LAYER RESPONSE TO THE GROWTH OF INTERLAMINAR DELAMINATION AND THEREFORE THE MONITORING OF THESE JOINTS AND REPAIRS IS CRITICAL. THE SMALL THICKNESS OF ADHESIVE LAYERS IN BONDS DO NOT ALLOW FOR THE INCORPORATION OF STRAIN GAGES BUT OPTICAL FIBERS MAY BE EMBEDDED TO ACQUIRE MEASUREMENTS DIRECTLY FROM THE BONDED JOINT. THE OPTICAL FIBER SENSOR IS ONE OF THE MOST SUITABLE SENSORS FOR THE STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING OF AEROSPACE STRUCTURES AS IT IS LIGHTWEIGHT AND DIMINUTIVE CAN BE EMBEDDED OR SURFACE MOUNTED IMMUNE TO ELECTROMAGNETIC INTERFERENCE AND PROVIDES A HIGH DENSITY OF STRAIN MEASUREMENTS. THESE ATTRIBUTES CAN ENABLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN IN SERVICE INFLIGHT MONITORING SYSTEM FOR AEROSPACE VEHICLES. AS A STEP IN THIS DEVELOPMENT THIS STUDY WILL FOCUS ON USING THE HIGH DISTRIBUTION OF MEASUREMENTS AVAILABLE FROM OPTICAL FIBERS TO CHARACTERIZE THE FRACTURE AND FATIGUE BEHAVIOR OF COMPOSITE ADHESIVE JOINTS THAT MAY LEAD TO AN ASSESSMENT OF BOND INTEGRITY. DIRECT STRAIN DISTRIBUTIONS WILL BE OBTAINED FROM THE ADHESIVE LAYERS FROM WITHIN COMPOSITE LAMINATES AS WELL AS FROM THE COMPOSITE ADHESIVE INTERFACE. THE OVERALL PROGRAM WILL ENCOMPASS EXPERIMENTAL FRACTURE AND FATIGUE TESTING USING OPTICAL FIBERS COUPLED WITH FINITE ELEMENT ANALYSES AS RELATED TO COMPOSITE BONDS IN AEROSPACE STRUCTURES. THE PROPOSED WORK ADDRESSES THE CRITICAL AREAS OF STRUCTURAL HEALTH MONITORING AND CERTIFICATION AND SUSTAINABILITY OF ADVANCED MATERIALS AND THEIR STRUCTURES FOR THEIR INTENDED AEROSPACE ENVIRONMENTS THROUGHOUT THEIR MISSIONS.