• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.561-568
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• 2017

Steel frames are widely used in steel structures. Exiting steel structures may be needed to strengthen for various reasons. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) is one of the materials that are used to strengthen steel structures. Most studies on strengthening steel structures have been done on beams and steel columns. No independent study, to the researcher's knowledge, has studied the effect of CFRP strengthening on steel frames. This study explored the use of CFRP composite on retrofitting square hollow section (SHS) steel frames, using numerical investigations. Ten Finite Element (FE) models, which were strengthened with CFRP sheets, were analyzed under different coverage length, number of layers, and location of CFRP composite. One FE model without strengthening was analyzed as a control FE model to determine the increase of the ultimate load in the strengthened steel frames. ANSYS software was used to analyze the SHS steel frames. The results showed that the coverage length and the number of layers of CFRP composite have a significant effect on increasing the ultimate load of the SHS steel frames. The results also showed that the location of CFRP composite had no similar effect on increasing the ultimate load and the amount of mid span deflection of the SHS steel frames.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.87-94
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• 2017

Steel structures often require strengthening due to the increasing life loads, or repair caused by corrosion or fatigue cracking. Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) is one of the materials used to strengthen steel structures. Most studies on strengthening steel structures have been carried out on steel beams and steel columns under centric compression load. No independent article, to the author's knowledge, has studied the effect of CFRP strengthening on steel columns under eccentric compression load, and it seems that there is a lack of understanding on behavior of CFRP strengthening on steel columns under eccentric compression load. However, this study explored the use of adhesively bonded CFRP flexible sheets on retrofitting square hollow section (SHS) steel columns under the eccentric compression load, using numerical investigations. Finite Element Method (FEM) was employed for modeling. To determine ultimate load of SHS steel columns, eight specimens with two types of section (Type A and B), strengthened using CFRP sheets, were analyzed under different coverage lengths, the number of layers, and the location of CFRP composites. Two specimens were analyzed without strengthening (control) to determine the increasing rate of the ultimate load in strengthened steel columns. ANSYS was used to analyze the SHS steel columns. The results showed that the CFRP composite had no similar effect on the slender and stocky SHS steel columns. The results also showed that the coverage length, the number of layers, and the location of CFRP composites were effective in increasing the ultimate load of the SHS steel columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.21 no.6
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• pp.1307-1325
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• 2016

Nonlinear behavior of two-span, continuous composite steel-concrete girders strengthened with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) bonded to the top of concrete slab over the negative moment region was evaluated using a non-linear Finite Element (FE) model in this paper. A three-dimensional FE model of continuous composite girder using commercial software ABAQUS simulated and validated with experimental results. The interfacial regions of the composite girder components were modeled using suitable interface elements. Validation of the proposed numerical model with experimental data confirmed the applicability of this model to predict the loading history, strain level for the different components and concrete-steel relative slip. The FE model captured the different modes of failure for the continuous composite girder either in the concrete slab or at the interfacial region between CFRP sheet and concrete slab. Through a parametric study, the thickness of CFRP sheet and shear connection required to develop full capacity of the continuous composite girder at negative moment zone have been investigated. The FE results showed that the proper thickness of CFRP sheet at negative moment region is a function of the adhesive strength and the positive moment capacity of the composite section. The shear connection required at the negative moment zone depends on CFRP sheet's tensile stress level at ultimate load.

• Coupled systems mechanics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.183-197
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• 2023

Scarce research has been published on crack propagation fracture of flywheels manufactured with carbon fiber-reinforced polymers. The present work deals with a calculation method to determine the conditions for which a crack propagates in the axial direction of the flywheel. The assumptions are: flywheels made with just a single thick ply or ply clustering laminates, oriented following the hoop direction; a single crack is analyzed in the plane defined by the hoop and axial directions; the crack starts close to one of the free edges; its axial length is initially large enough so that its tip is far away from that free edge, and the crack expands the entire circumferential perimeter and keeps its concentric position. The developed method provides information for a good design of flywheels. It is concluded that a fracture-based crack propagation criterion generally occurs at a lower speed than a stress-based criterion. Also, that the evolution of failure with thickness using the fracture criterion is exponential, demonstrating that thin flywheels are relatively not sensitive to crack propagation, whereas thick ones are very prone.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.327-341
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• 2017

Openings in slabs are usually required for many different applications such as aeriation ducts and air conditioning. Opening in concrete slabs due to cutouts significantly decrease the member stiffness. There are different techniques to strengthen slabs with opening cutouts. This study presents experimental and numerical investigations on the use of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) as strengthening material to strengthen and restore the load carrying capacity of R.C. slabs after having cutout in the hogging moment region. The experimental program consisted of testing five (oneway spanning R.C. flat slabs) with overhang. All slabs were prismatic, rectangular in cross-section and nominally 2000 mm long, 1000 mm width, and 100 mm thickness with a clear span (distance between supports) of 1200 mm and the overhang length is 700 mm. All slabs were loaded up to 30 kN (45% of ultimate load for reference slab, before yielding of the longitudinal reinforcement), then the load was kept constant during cutting concrete and steel bars (producing cut out). After that operation, slabs were loaded till failure. An analytical study using finite element analysis (FEA) is performed using the commercial software ANSYS. The FEA has been validated and calibrated using the experimental results. The FE model was found to be in a good agreement with the experimental results. The investigated key parameters were slab aspect ratio for the opening ratios of [1:1, 2:1], CFRP layers and the laminates widths, positions for cutouts and the CFRP configurations around cutouts.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.30-36
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• 2018

Researches on strengthening and rehabilitation are important since structural capacity is degraded by deterioration or damage of structural members. An effective strengthening scheme such as an externally bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) can improve the structural performance of a concrete structure in a cost-effective way. Therefore, many experimental studies on strengthening methods have been widely carried out. In regards to the shear strengthening of a concrete beam, variables of the experimental studies were the amount of CFRP, the angle of the strip, the width of the strip, and the interaction between the materials. However, there are insufficient researches on bi-directional CFRP layout compared to the previous researches. In this study, a total of ten concrete beams were designed and tested to evaluate the shear strengthening effect using CFRP strips. The effectiveness of strengthening was investigated based on the shear contribution of materials, strain distribution of stirrup, and the maximum shear capacity of specimens.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.43 no.4
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• pp.447-456
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• 2022

Recent experimental studies showed that deep steel I-shaped profiles classified as high ductility class sections in seismic design international codes exhibit low deformation capacity when subjected to cyclic loading. This paper presents an innovative retrofit solution to increase the rotation capacity of beams using bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) patches validated with advanced finite element analysis. This investigation focuses on the flexural cyclic behaviour of I-shaped hot rolled steel deep section used as beams in moment-resisting frames (MRF) retrofitted with CFRP patches on the web. The main goal of this CFRP reinforcement is to increase the rotation capacity of the member without increasing the overstrength in order to avoid compromising the strong column-weak beam condition in MRF. A finite element model that simulates the cyclic plasticity behavior of the steel and the damage in the adhesive layer is developed. The damage is modelled using the cohesive zone modelling (CZM) technique that is able to capture the crack initiation and propagation. Details on the modelling techniques including the mesh sensitivity near the fracture zone are presented. The effectiveness of the retrofit solution depends strongly on the selection of the appropriate adhesive. Different adhesive types are investigated where the CZM parameters are calibrated from high fidelity fracture mechanics tests that are thoroughly validated in the literature. This includes a rigid adhesive commonly found in the construction industry and two tough adhesives used in the automotive industry. The results revealed that the CFRP patch can increase the rotation capacity of a steel member considerably when using tough adhesives.

• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.8 no.3
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• pp.489-501
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• 1997

Electropolymerization of 2-vinylnaphthalene (2-VN) and methylmethacrylate (MMA) with high radiation resistance property was conducted on the surfaces of carbon fibers by using a nonaqueous solution of comonomers dissolved in N,N-dimethylformamide containing sodium nitrate as a supporting electrolyte. The fabrication of carbon fiber/2-VN/MMA prepreg was performed electrochemically in 1:1 comonomer solution. Electropolymerization was conduced by changing the current density, initial comonomer concentration, and reaction time. The weight gain on the surface of the carbon fibers was measured by thermogravimetric analyser (TGA). The highest weight gain of 50 wt% was obtained at 600mA/g~800mA/g current density range, but the weight gain was rapidly decreased above 800mA/g current density. The weight gain was increased with the concentration of comonomer, while the concentration of electrolyte had almost no effect on the weight gain. At 300mA/g current density, weight gain rate was increased abruptly to the initial 30 minutes of reaction time. After that the rate was decreased due to the generation of gas bubbles. In order to check the effect of coated polymers on the radiation resistance, morphology changes before and after $\gamma$-ray irradiation was investigated for the composites.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.108-113
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• 2018

Researches on strengthening and rehabilitation methods are being widely conducted due to the deterioration of existing concrete structures. Use of externally bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) strips for the rehabilitation is a cost-effective and time-saving method. Generally, the CFRP layout for the shear strengthening was a uni-directional layout. Many researches have focused on the variables of the uni-directional CFRP layout such as the amount of material, angle, and spacing. Pilot tests indicated that the effective confinement of the concrete member can be provided with the bi-directional CFRP layout than the uni-directional layout. Therefore, the test was carried out after the uni- and bi-directional strengthening work using the same amount of CFRP material. CFRP anchors were installed to prevent unexpected premature CFRP delamination failure before reaching CFRP fracture strain. The effectiveness of the CFRP anchor and bi-directional CFRP layout for shear strengthening was verified based on the principal tensile strain contours.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.151-166
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• 2019

This paper introduces a new efficient analytical method, based on shear deformations obtained with 2D elasticity theory approach, to perform an explicit closed-form solution for calculation the interfacial shear and normal stresses in plated RC beam. The materials of plate, necessary for the reinforcement of the beam, are in general made with fiber reinforced polymers (Carbon or Glass) or steel. The experimental tests showed that at the ends of the plate, high shear and normal stresses are developed, consequently a debonding phenomenon at this position produce a sudden failure of the soffit plate. The interfacial stresses play a significant role in understanding this premature debonding failure of such repaired structures. In order to efficiently model the calculation of the interfacial stresses we have integrated the effect of shear deformations using the equilibrium equations of the elasticity. The approach of this method includes stress-strain and strain-displacement relationships for the adhesive and adherends. The use of the stresses continuity conditions at interfaces between the adhesive and adherents, results pair of second-order and fourth-order coupled ordinary differential equations. The analytical solution for this coupled differential equations give new explicit closed-form solution including shear deformations effects. This new solution is indented for applications of all plated beam. Finally, numerical results obtained with this method are in agreement of the existing solutions and the experimental results.