Concrete

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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) AbstractWebsite

Despite 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.

Experimental evaluation of bonding between CFRP laminates and different structural materials, Biscaia, Hugo, Chastre Carlos, Borba Isabel, Silva Cinderela, and Cruz David , Journal of Composites for Construction, Volume 20, Number 3, p.04015070, (2016) AbstractWebsite

This study presents an analysis of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP)-to-parent material interfaces based on 40 single-lap shear tests intended to highlight the strength of the interfaces under fracture mode II. Three different substrates are analyzed: timber;concrete and steel, using the same CFRP laminates and adhesive agent. The Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) technique was used throughout the study. The results show that the CFRP-to-timber interfaces had the highest strength but also showed that these interfaces need a longer bonded length in order to reach maximum strength, i.e., CFRP-to-timber interfaces had the longest effective bond length. The local non-linear bond-slip curve of CFRP-to-concrete can be approximated to exponential curves, whereas the CFRP-to-timber or steel interfaces showed tri-linear and bi-linear bond-slip relations, respectively. Also, the CFRP-to-timber interfaces revealed the highest fracture energy.

A Nonlinear Analytical model to predict The full-range debonding process of FRP-to-parent material interfaces free of any mechanical anchorage devices, Biscaia, Hugo C., Borba Isabel S., Silva Cinderela, and Chastre Carlos , Composite Structures, 15 March 2016, Volume 138, p.52-63, (2016) AbstractWebsite

Ever since Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) began to be used in the repair or strengthening of structural elements, the premature debonding of the FRP composite from the substrate has been an important drawback that have been motive of several studies. The importance of knowing and describing the full-range behaviour of FRP-to-parent material interfaces rigorously is therefore urgent. However, at present, there are no analytical solutions that describe the full-range behaviour of such interfaces that help us to understand the full debonding phenomena of FRP-to-parent material interfaces free of any mechanical anchorage devices. Therefore, the aim of this study is to contribute the advances of that knowledge through an analytical solution by means of an exponential bond-slip model that is known to represent the nonlinearities involved in the debonding process of the FRP composite from the substrate. Analytical solutions for the slips, strains in the FRP composite, bond stress distributions along the bonded interface and stresses in the substrate are presented. A full-range load-slip analysis is also discussed.

A new discrete method to model unidirectional FRP-to-parent material bonded joints subjected to mechanical loads, Biscaia, Hugo C., Chastre Carlos, and Viegas André , Composite Structures, 3//, Volume 121, p.280-295, (2015) AbstractWebsite

Nowadays fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) composites play an important role in the strengthening of structures. Different methods can be used to apply these materials: the externally bonded reinforcement (EBR), and the near surface mounted (NSM) using strips and NSM rods. There are only a few studies comparing these methods or presenting an efficient model to simulate these strengthening techniques. This study looks mainly at the analysis of the interface between FRP-to-parent material bonded joints. The paper examines, through a new discrete model based on axial and shear springs, the performance of FRP-to-parent material bonded joints for EBR or NSM techniques using strips or composite rods. In order to implement the model a routine in MATLAB was developed and several bond–slip curves were assumed. The results revealed that load–slip curves or bond stresses, strains or slippages along the bonded length obtained from several bond–slip curves are similar to the analytical and other numerical solutions found in literature. In what concerns the adhesion between two different materials, and assuming the same bond characteristics for the three fiber strengthening techniques, the NSM system using FRP strips had the highest maximum load transmitted to the FRP strip combined with the lowest effective bond length. The results obtained from the proposed model were also very accurate with that obtained from an analytical solution found in literature that simulates the debonding phenomenon of FRP-to-concrete interfaces between to adjacent cracks.

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.

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.

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.

Double shear tests to evaluate the bond strength between GFRP/concrete elements, Biscaia, Hugo C., Chastre Carlos, and Silva Manuel A. G. , Composite Structures, Volume 94, Number 2, p.681-694, (2012) AbstractWebsite

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.