Glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP)
Influence of external compressive stresses on the performance of GFRP-to-concrete interfaces subjected to aggressive environments: An experimental analysis,
Biscaia, Hugo, Silva Manuel A. G., and Chastre Carlos
, Journal of Composites for Construction , Volume 20, Issue 2, p.04015044, (2016)
AbstractDespite the fact that FRP composites are a reliable structural material with reasonable durability performance, the environment to which the strengthened structure is exposed can make the strengthening system vulnerable. In this study, the effectiveness of Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) systems when external compressive stresses are applied to glass (G) FRP-to-concrete interfaces in several aggressive environments is analysed. The compressive stress imposed on the GFRP-to-concrete interface intends to simulate, for instance, the effect produced by a mechanical anchorage system applied to the EBR system. The design and the region to set those mechanical anchorage systems are not yet well understood and are mostly applied without really knowing how they will behave. This work shows an exhaustive experimental programme based on several double shear tests subjected to salt fog cycles, dry/wet cycles and two distinct temperature cycles: from -10ºC to +30ºC and +7.5ºC to +47.5ºC. The Mohr-Coulomb failure criterion was found to provide a good representation of the performance of the GFRP-to-concrete interface, and changes of cohesion and internal friction angle of those interfaces during the hours of exposure to the aggressive environments are reported.
A smeared crack analysis of reinforced concrete T-beams strengthened with GFRP composites,
Biscaia, Hugo C., Chastre Carlos, and Silva Manuel A. G.
, Engineering Structures, 11//, Volume 56, p.1346-1361, (2013)
AbstractThe strengthening of reinforced concrete structures with laminates of fibre reinforced polymeric (FRP) matrix has received considerable attention, although there still is lack of information on the more adequate modelling of the interface between FRP composites and concrete. An experimental programme is described and was designed to: (i) characterise glass FRP-to-concrete interface by shear tests; (ii) analyse reinforced concrete T-beams with external GFRP plates. Double shear tests were carried out based on 15 cm cubes with GFRP bonded to two opposite faces. The concrete T-beams were 3.0 m long and 0.28 m high and were loaded till rupture in 4-point bending tests. The external reinforcement system showed great strength increment in relation to the non retrofitted T-beam, confirming to be an effective approach to the flexural strengthening of RC beams. The computational analysis was based on a three dimensional smeared crack model. In total, 22 computational analyses were made. Models with and without interface FE associated with Mohr–Coulomb failure criterion for the FRP-to-concrete interface were defined and different strength types of concrete were considered. The rigid interface does not predict the rupture of the T-beam with precision; however, the results obtained for low concrete strengths revealed that rigid interfaces can be assumed when conjugated with the fixed crack approach. Consequently, a slightly stiffer response of the beam is obtained. The maximum bond stresses obtained from Finite Element Analysis (FEA) revealed that the models with rigid interfaces developed lower bond stresses due to the lack of relative displacements between both materials. The effects of assuming either fixed or rotated crack approaches were also compared. The rotated crack conjugated to a fine mesh in the vicinity of the GFRP-to-concrete stress led to a very good estimation of the bond stresses along the interface. The prediction of the T-beam rupture was also estimated with better results when the rotated crack was used in the model. In general, the FEA predicted with very good results the de-bonding of the GFRP-to-concrete interface of T-beams externally bonded with GFRP composites.
