EXPERIMENTAL INVESTIGATION ON BONDING CARBON FIBER REINFORCED POLYMERIC PLATES TO CONCRETE SUBSTRATE

Various researches have been carried out in the recent past years with the aim of demonstrating the feasibility of strengthening structures by means of composite materials. Thus, the use of externally bonded fiber reinforced polymeric composites (FRP), composite system for strengthening concrete structures became one of the most common application of FRP composites in civil engineering and has received a great amount of research attention. Bond behaviour between FRP and concrete has emerged as a major issue, being essential in shear and flexural applications. A great deal of the success of externally reinforced elements depends on the surface preparation, thus appropriate specifications regarding this matter will be also presented. The experimental work consists in testing concrete specimens strengthened with different types of carbon fiber reinforced polymeric (CFRP) plates and subjected to double shear test. The empirical results obtained during the tests provide an adequate characterization of the interfacial region regarding bond strength, the bond - slip behaviour, as well as the types of failure. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]