Interface

Prediction of the interfacial performance of CFRP laminates and old timber bonded joints with different strengthening techniques, Biscaia, Hugo C., Chastre Carlos, Cruz David, and Viegas André , Composites Part B: Engineering, 1/1/, Volume 108, p.1-17, (2017) AbstractWebsite

Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) is a recent technique to strengthen timber structures and the studies available discussing the debonding between these materials are limited. Therefore, the bond assessment between FRP composites and timber substrates is a topic that needs clarification. The present work analyses the debonding process between Carbon (C) FRP laminates and timber with rupture modes consistent with Mode II interfacial fracture, i.e. with the sliding mode where the bond stresses act parallel to the plane of the bonding surface. Several single-lap shear tests were performed and the experiments showed a nonlinear local behaviour of the CFRP-to-timber interface. An interfacial bond-slip model and its calibration procedure were also presented. Furthermore, the calibrated nonlinear bond-slip model was implemented in a numerical approach where the FRP composite and the adhesive are simulated by linear and nonlinear springs and the substrate is assumed rigid. The following influences on the debonding process of the CFRP-to-timber interface were also analysed: (i) the bonding technique (Externally Bonded Reinforcement - EBR; and Near Surface Mounted - NSM); and (ii) the use of an additional device to mechanically anchor the CFRP laminate. Besides the determination of the effective bond length for each bonding technique, a new concept defining the length beyond which the force at the anchorage device does not decrease with the bonded length and a proposal to estimate its value for any bonded length was also presented and discussed. The experimental tests have shown that the NSM technique has a better performance compared to the EBR technique, independently of the installation of mechanical anchorage devices. In the case of the EBR technique, the strains in the CFRP laminate increased at its vicinities due to the clamping force applied to the anchors, which affected the final strength of the interface.

Mechanical Response of Anchored FRP bonded joints: A Nonlinear Analytical Approach, Biscaia, Hugo, Chastre Carlos, Silva Cinderela, and Franco Noel , Mechanics of Advanced Materials and Structures, (2018) Abstract

The paper presents a nonlinear analytical solution for the prediction of the full-range debonding response of mechanically-anchored FRP composites from the substrate. The nonlinear analytical approach predicts, for any monotonic loading history or bonded length the relative displacements (or slips) between materials, the strains in the FRP composite, the bond stresses within the interface and the stresses developed in the substrate. The load-slip responses FRP-to-substrate interfaces with a short and a long bonded lengths are motive of analysis and discussion. The solutions obtained from the proposed approach are also compared with other experimental results found in the literature.

Numerical analysis of FRP anchorage zones with variable width, Biscaia, Hugo C., Micaelo Rui, Teixeira João, and Chastre Carlos , Composites Part B: Engineering, 11//, Volume 67, p.410-426, (2014) AbstractWebsite

The use of Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) has recently become widespread in the construction industry. However, some drawbacks related to premature debonding of the FRP composites from the bonded substrates have been identified. One of the solutions proposed is the implementation of mechanical anchorage systems. Although some design guidelines have been developed, the actual knowledge continues to be rather limited. Thus, designers and researchers have not yet achieved any consensus on the efficiency of any particular anchor device in delaying or preventing the premature debonding failure mode that can occur in Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) systems. This paper studies the debonding phenomenon of FRP anchoring systems with a linear variable width, with a numerical analysis based on the Distinct Element Method (DEM). Combined systems with constant and variable width are also discussed. The FRP-to-parent material interfaces are modelled with a rigid-linear softening bond–slip law. The numerical results showed that it is possible to attain the FRP rupture force with a variable width solution. This solution is particularly attractive when the bonded length is shorter than the effective bonded length because the strength of the interface can be highly incremented.

Factors influencing the performance of externally bonded reinforcement systems of GFRP-to-concrete interfaces, Biscaia, Hugo C., Silva Manuel A. G., and Chastre Carlos , Materials and Structures, 2014/06/29, Volume 48, Issue 9, p.2961-2981, (2015) AbstractWebsite

Fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites may prematurely debond from the surface of concrete, i.e. before its elastic resistance is exhausted. This is a very common situation and can be aggravated if additional factors are not taken into account. These factors include the type of surface preparation, the exposure to aggressive environmental action, the tensile concrete strength or fatigue and creep loading to which the structural element may be subject. An experimental programme based on double shear tests was undertaken to analyse the influence of some of these factors on the performance of the interface between composite glass fibres (GFRP) and concrete. The results allowed the determination and comparison of maximum loads transmitted to the GFRP plates and maximum bond stresses obtained considering various surface treatments and aging conditions. Bond–slip curves were also determined. The experimental results are compared with those obtained from a numerical analysis.

An experimental study of GFRP-to-concrete interfaces submitted to humidity cycles, Biscaia, Hugo C., Silva Manuel A. G., and Chastre Carlos , Composite Structures, 4//, Volume 110, Issue April, p.354-368, (2014) AbstractWebsite

Systems externally reinforced by bonded fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) are widely used in the retrofitting and strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) structures. A drawback of the usage of this technique lies on the uncertainty of the long term behaviour of those reinforcements. Researchers have paid heed to this aspect and a number of tests and alternative techniques have recently been described. An experimental programme developed to supplement work of the authors recently published and which focused on specimens not submitted to aggressive environments is described. The specimens used have the same geometry as in the previous paper, but they were exposed to salt fog cycles and dry/wet cycles with salt water for periods of 3000 h, 5000 h and 10,000 h. The interface of the glass fiber polymeric composite (GFRP)-to-concrete was characterized after the systems underwent such aggressive conditions. The GFRP wrap comprised of two layers and wet lay-up technique was used on its preparation and application. The cohesion and friction angle for GFRP-to-concrete interfaces were measured tat selected stages of ageing process and envelope failure laws were obtained based on the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion. Changes of 27% in cohesion and 8% in the friction angle were found due to the attack of the interface and consequences of the changes are examined.

Modelling GFRP-to-concrete joints with interface finite elements with rupture based on the Mohr-Coulomb criterion, Biscaia, Hugo C., Chastre Carlos, and Silva Manuel A. G. , Construction and Building Materials, 10//, Volume 47, p.261-273, (2013) AbstractWebsite

The strengthening of reinforced concrete structures by means of externally bonded fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) is now routinely considered and applied in the retrofit or strengthening of structures. FRP composites have received a considerable attention from civil engineers in recent years due to the high strength-weight and stiffness/weight ratios when compared to other materials. However, when FRP composites are bonded to a concrete surface, there is a persistent potential problem that the FRP plates may debond prematurely from the concrete. This is a very important issue for the engineers who have to focus on the computational modelling of this phenomenon. Some studies can be found in literature on computational modelling. However, there is very little information about the best modelling of the interface between FRP composites and concrete and this work is intended to help bridge this gap. The computational analysis presented here is based on three-dimensional software which assumes the smeared crack model, and the interface finite elements (FEs) used have a rupture criteria based on the Mohr-Coulomb criterion with tension cut-off. The definition of these FEs was based on double shear tests that were performed specifically for this purpose and they have shown that the debonding phenomenon can be predicted with some accuracy. In total, 10 double shear models were studied and the results were compared with the 21 experimental tests performed. The double shear tests consisted of applying loads to 2 layered GFRP laminates bonded to a 150 mm concrete cube with a bonded area of 150 × 80 mm (length × width). Double shear models with and without a gap interface were considered in order to emphasize the importance of modelling the GFRP-to-concrete interface with interface finite elements. The effect of the concrete strength on the interface performance was also considered. An externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) concrete T-beam strengthened with 2 GFRP layers is presented to illustrate the application of the method. The wet lay-up technique was used for the external reinforcement of a reinforced concrete T-beam and then tested under a four point bending test until rupture. The results are reported and differences between the numerical and the experimental results are discussed.

Nonlinear numerical analysis of the debonding failure process of FRP-to-concrete interfaces, Biscaia, Hugo C., Chastre Carlos, and Silva Manuel A. G. , Composites Part B: Engineering, Volume 50, p.210-223, (2013) AbstractWebsite

The paper analyses numerical solutions for the process leading to debonding failure of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP)-to-concrete interfaces in shear tests with the FRP plate subjected to a tensile load at one end. Any realistic local nonlinear bond-slip law can be used in the numerical analysis proposed in the present study. However, only a Popovics’ type expression is employed in the numerical process due to its use in different studies found in the literature. Effective bond length (Leff) is discussed and an expression depending on the Popovics’ constant (nP) is proposed to calculate it. Assuming a fracture in pure Mode II, the debonding process is analyzed in detail and distributions of bond stresses and strains in the FRP plate along the interface are presented. The load-displacement behaviour is also presented and the influence of the local bond-slip law on the debonding process is discussed.

Linear and nonlinear analysis of bond-slip models for interfaces between FRP composites and concrete, Biscaia, Hugo C., Chastre Carlos, and Silva Manuel A. G. , Composites Part B: Engineering, Volume 45, Number 1, p.1554-1568, (2013) AbstractWebsite

The paper analyses different analytical and numerical solutions for the debonding process of the FRP-to-concrete interface on shear tests with the FRP plate submitted to a tensile load in one of its ends. From the point of view of the state of the art, two different ways of finding the bond-slip curve from experiments are discussed and analysed. Essentially, three different linear bond-slip models, one exponential model and another power based function are employed in the numerical process. The results are analysed and compared. The differences found in the stress field along the interface, maximum load, maximum slip, ultimate slip, fracture energy and effective bond length are reported. The load-slip behaviour is also presented for the linear and non-linear models herein studied and the influence of the local bond-slip model on the debonding process is discussed. The numerical integration process used on the present study proved to be coherent with the analytical expressions determined for the linear bond-slip models and allowed to verify that maximum load transmittable to the FRP plate is influenced by the square root of the FRP stiffness and fracture energy even when nonlinear bond-slip models are assumed.