Appraisal of the novel single contoured-cantilever beam

Research in the areas of rehabilitation and/or strengthening of concrete structures is currently focused on the external bonding of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) plates or fabrics. A concern, however, exists with the long-term reliable performance of the interface bond that is centrally critical to the successful application of this technology. Traditionally, interface studies of the wood-adhesive bond, as an example, had effectively been accomplished using the well-established fracture mechanics double cantilever beam (DCB) approach, which, unfortunately, could not be extended to investigating FRP-concrete interfaces because of the inherent weakness of the concrete material under tension. In order to overcome such a hindrance, the authors devised a novel fracture mechanics specimen known as the single contoured-cantilever beam (SCCB), and have used it to successfully characterize the FRP-concrete interface bond under pristine, dry, wet-dry, and freeze-thaw conditions. This paper attempts to both summarize the relevancy of this new test methodology and appraise its viability as an indispensable fracture mechanics tool for FRP-concrete interface bond characterization.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]