Abstract:
In strengthening systems, the carbon fibre
reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials typically have
excellent resistance against environmental conditions;
however, the performance of adhesives between
CFRP and steel is generally affected by various
environmental conditions such as marine environment,
cold and hot weather. This paper presents the
comparative durability study of CFRP strengthened
tubular steel structures by using two different adhesives
such as MBrace saturant and Araldite K630
under four-point bending. The program consisted of
testing twelve CFRP strengthened specimens having
treated with epoxy based adhesion promoter, untreated
surface and one unstrengthened specimen and conditioned
under cold weather for 3 and 6 months to
determine the environmental durability. The beams
were then loaded to failure in quasi-static manner
under four-point bending. The structural responses of
CFRP strengthened tubular steel beams were compared
in terms of failure load, stiffness and modes of
failure. The research findings show that the cold
weather immersion had adversely affected the durability
of CFRP strengthened steel members. Design
factor is also proposed to address the short-terms
durability performance under cold weather.
Citation:
Kabir, M. H., Fawzia, S., Chan, T. H. T., & Gamage, J. C. P. H. (2016). Comparative durability study of CFRP strengthened tubular steel members under cold weather. Materials and Structures, 49(5), 1761–1774. https://doi.org/10.1617/s11527-015-0610-x
