Carlos Chastre

Concrete structures Externally Bonded Reinforced (EBR) with Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) have been studied and used since the end of the last century. However, several issues need to be better studied in order to improve performance. The influence of size of anchorage plates used on Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures strengthened with EBR FRP composites, the external compressive stress to be applied on the anchorage plate and the numerical simulation of this region are some of the topics that need to be more carefully studied in order to clarify the performance of the FRP-to-concrete interface within the anchorage plate region. This study proposes a design methodology to estimate the amount of external compressive stress necessary to be applied on the anchorage plate of EBR systems with FRP composites, in order to avoid premature debonding. The external compressive stress imposed on the FRP composite is intended to simulate the effect produced by a mechanical anchorage system tightened to the EBR system. The results from the design proposal, when compared with the numerical ones, were efficient enough on the prediction of the bond strength improvement of FRP-to-concrete interfaces.

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.

A utilização de Polímeros Reforçados com Fibras (FRP) no reforço de estruturas de Betão Armado (BA) tem tido cada vez mais aceitação devido à sua elevada resistência e rigidez, baixo peso específico e excelente resistência aos efeitos dos agentes ambientais. No entanto, actualmente, é comum utilizarem-se técnicas de reforço que dificilmente permitem tirar partido da resistência total destes materiais. Com o objectivo de explorar a capacidade total de Polímeros Reforçados com Fibras de Carbono (CFRP), foram estudadas e desenvolvidas duas novas técnicas de reforço de vigas à flexão designadas por Continuous Reinforcement Embedded at Ends (CREatE) e Horizontal Near Surface Mounted Reinforcement (HNSMR). Posteriormente realizou-se um estudo comparativo entre o desempenho destes sistemas de reforço e o de duas outras técnicas já estudadas e usuais, nomeadamente os sistemas Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) e Near Surface Mounted Reinforcement (NSMR). A técnica CREatE provou ser a mais eficaz de todas as alternativas testadas mobilizando a totalidade do compósito de CFRP e dotando as vigas de BA com uma maior capacidade resistente e com uma ductilidade mais elevada.Como complemento deste trabalho experimental, desenvolveu-se também um programa de cálculo em MATLAB, capaz de simular o problema em estudo através de um modelo numérico de análise não linear através do equilíbrio de secções. A representatividade dos dados obtidos foi verificada através de uma análise comparativa entre os valores numéricos e os obtidos experimentalmente.The use of Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) in order to strengthen Reinforced Concrete (RC) structures has been increasingly accepted due to their strength and stiffness, low weight and excellent resistance to the effects of environmental aggressive agents. However, the bonding techniques available and described in the literature can not allow the full use of the mechanical properties of these materials and premature failures are often observed and described by several researchers. In order to explore the full capacity of CFRP composites, two new bonding strengthening techniques of RC beams when subjected to 4-point bending tests were studied and developed. For these new techniques, the designation of Continuous Reinforcement Embedded at Ends (CREatE) and Horizontal Near Surface Mounted Reinforcement (HNSMR) has been assigned. Posteriorly, a comparative study has been carried out between those strengthening systems performance and two traditional techniques, namely, the Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) and Near Surface Mounted Reinforcement (NSMR). The CREatE technique has proved to be the most effective of all alternatives tested, with the full utilization of the CFRP composite and the highest strength, combined with the highest ductility. A code using MATLAB software was developed as a complement of this experimental work, which is able to simulate the problem under study through a nonlinear numerical model based on the equilibrium of sections. The representativeness of the numerical data has been verified afterwards through a comparative analysis between those and the experimental results.

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.

Externally bonded reinforced systems have been widely used in civil engineering. However, the problems associated with bond between structural elements are not yet fully solved. As a consequence, many researchers have been proposing tests and techniques to standardize procedures and reach better agreement for design purposes. In the present paper, an experimental program is described that was developed to characterize the glass FRP/concrete interface by double shear tests made on 15 cm side cubes with GFRP bonded on two opposite faces. The GFRP wrap had two layers applied by the wet lay-up technique and three classes of concrete were considered. With the support of the experimental program, cohesion and friction angle for GFRP–concrete interfaces were found leading to different envelope failure laws, based on the Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion for each concrete class, capable of predicting GFRP debonding. Results are discussed.

Based on a few experimental results available in the literature, this work presents a simple analytical approach that allows the study of the long-term behaviour of CFRP-to-concrete interfaces under an initial sustaining load. Only the elastic regime is studied, which means that the interfacial maximum bond stress and maximum slip are never exceeded. Therefore, the maximum initial load to be sustained by the joints is limited by its corresponding elastic value. The analytical results provided by the proposed model are compared with some experimental results found in the literature. The results showed strain redistribution throughout the bonded length over the time.

Neste artigo apresentam-se e analisam-se um conjunto de ensaios realizados em vigas de betão armado reforçadas com armaduras pós-instaladas de aço ou de FRP, incluindo os referentes a uma nova técnica (CREatE) desenvolvida na FCT NOVA. Os resultados experimentais permitiram concluir que a técnica CREatE possibilita aumentos de resistência e ductilidade consideráveis face às técnicas tradicionais.

The use of Fiber Reinforced Polymers (FRP) in the strengthening of timber structures is quite recent and few studies have discussed the debonding between these materials. The analysis of the Mode II debonding process between FRP composites and timber elements may be of great importance because this mode is predominant in the case, for instance, of the bending of beams. Knowing the appropriate bond-slip model to use on the estimation of the performance of FRP-to-timber interfaces is greatly relevant. Under such circumstances, a detailed knowledge of all the states that CFRP-to-timber interfaces are subjected to is important as well. The current work gives answers to these aspects proposing an analytical solution based on a tri-linear bond-slip model that is capable of describing precisely the full-range debonding behavior of FRP-to-timber interfaces. Thus, the purpose of this study is to contribute to existing knowledge with an analytical solution capable of describing the full-range debonding process between a FRP composite and a substrate. The analytical solutions herein proposed are also compared with the results obtained from several experiments based on single-lap shear tests. Comparisons at different load levels and different bonded lengths are presented. The slips, strains in the CFRP composite and bond stress distributions within the bonded interface are emphasized in the text. The complete load-slip response of CFRP-to-timber interface is also analyzed. Each state of the debonding process is described and each one is identified in the load-slip curve.