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Abstract:
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Different strategies can be used to repair , rehabilitate and strengthen existing structures . Techniques based on Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP ) materials appear to be innovative alternatives to traditional solutions because of their high tensile strength , light , weight , and ease of installation . One of the most common and useful FRPs is Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP ) used in sheets and anchors attached on the concrete surface to strengthen the section through addition of tensile capacity . The purpose of this study was develop a technique for assesses the strength of anchors for quality control purpose .
However , to transfer tensile capacity to a concrete surface , the sheets are bonded to the surface with epoxy adhesive . As tension increase , CFRP sheets lose adherence of the epoxy from the concrete surface and finally debond . To avoid this failure , CFRP anchors are applied in addition at the epoxy . The CFRP anchors allow the CFRP sheets to utilize their full tensile capacity and maximize the material efficiency of the CFRP retrofit . The number and size of anchors play a critical role . However the capacity of CFRP anchors has not been investigated extendedly .
A methodology for assessing the quality of CFRP anchors was developed using plain concrete beams and reinforced externally with CFRP sheets attached with epoxy and CFRP anchors . Applying load to the beam , allowed the development a tensile force in the CFRP sheets and a shear force on the CFRP anchors . The shear forces in the CFRP anchors were defined by the load applied to the beam and compared with forces based on measured stress in CFRP sheets . |