• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제14권5호
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• pp.453-472
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• 2013

This paper presents the structural behavior of CFRP (carbon fiber reinforced polymer) strengthened CFT (concrete-filled steel tubes) columns under axial loads. Circular and square specimens were selected to investigate the retrofitting effects of CFRP sheet on CFT columns. Test parameters are cross section of CFT, D/t (B/t) ratios, and the number of CFRP layers. The load and ductility capacities were evaluated for each specimen. Structural behavior comparisons of circular and rectangular section will be represented in the experimental result discussion section. Finally, ultimate load formula of CFRP strengthened CFT will be proposed to calculate the ultimate strength of CFRP strengthened circular CFT. The prediction values are in good agreement with the test results obtained in this study and in the literature.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제25권1호
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• pp.35-43
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• 2017

This paper presents the findings of experimental and numerical investigations on failure analysis and structural behavior of notched steel I-beams reinforced by bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) plates under static load. To find solutions for preventing or delaying the failures, understanding the CFRP failure modes is beneficial. One non-strengthened control beam and four specimens with different deficiencies (one side and two sides) on flexural flanges in both experimental test and simulation were studied. Two additional notched beams were investigated just numerically. In the experimental test, four-point bending method with static gradual loading was employed. To simulate the specimens, ABAQUS software in full three dimensional (3D) case and non-linear analysis method was applied. The results show that the CFRP failure modes in strengthening of deficient steel I-beams include end-debonding, below point load debonding, splitting and delamination. Strengthening schedule is important to the occurrences and sequences of CFRP failure modes. Additionally, application of CFRP plates in the deficiency region prevents crack propagation and brittle failure.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제23권4호
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• pp.385-397
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• 2017

Currently, CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) plate bonding is used quite extensively as a strengthening method. In this technique, a composite CFRP plate or sheet of relatively small thickness is bonded with an adhesion material to steel or concrete structure in order to improve its structural behavior and strength. The sheets or plates do not require much space and give a composite action between the adherents. In this study, the rotation capacity of CFRP-strengthened cold-formed steel (CFS) beams has been evaluated through numerical investigation. Studies on different structural levels have been performed. At the beam level, C-section has been adopted with different values of profile thickness, web height, and flange width. At the connection level, a web bolted moment resistant type of connection using through plate has been adopted. In web-bolted connections without CFRP strengthening, premature web buckling results in early loss of strength. Hence, CFRP sheets and plates with different mechanical properties and geometric configurations have been examined to delay web and flange buckling and to produce relatively high moment strength and rotation capacity. The numerical results reveal that CFRP strengthening may increase strength, initial stiffness, and rotation capacity when compared with the case without strengthening.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제48권2호
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• pp.131-143
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• 2023

The CFRP bar was used to achieve more ductile and durable headed-stud shear connectors in composite components. Three series of push-out tests were firstly conducted, including specimens reinforced with pure steel fibers, steel and CFRP bars. The distributed stress was measured by the commercial PPP-BOTDA (Pre-Pump-Pulse Brillouin optical time domain analysis) optical fiber sensor with high spatial resolution. A series of numerical analyses using non-linear FE models were also made to study the shear force transfer mechanism and crack response based on the test results. Test results show that the CFRP bar increases the shear strength and stiffness of the large diameter headed-stud shear connection, and it has equivalent reinforcing effects on the stud shear capacity as the commonly used steel bar. The embedded CFRP bar can also largely improve the shear force transfer mechanism and decrease the tensile stress in the transverse direction. The parametric study shows that low content steel fibers could delay the crack initiation of slab around the large diameter stud, and the CFRP bar with normal elastic modulus and the standard reinforcement ratio has good resistance to splitting crack growth in headed stud shear connectors.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제15권6호
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• pp.659-677
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• 2013

This paper introduces new specimens of Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer composite developed in accordance with standard test method and definition for mechanical testing of steel (ASTM-A370). The main purpose of this research is to study the behaviour of steel-CFRP composite specimen under uniaxial tension to use it in beams in lieu of traditional steel bar reinforcement. Eighteen specimens were prepared and divided into six groups, depending upon the number of the layers of CFRP. Uniaxial tensile tests were conducted to determine yield strength and ultimate strength of specimens. Test results showed that the stress-strain curve of the composite specimen was bilinear prior to the fracture of CFRP laminate. The tested composite specimens displayed a large difference in strength with remarkable ductility. The ultimate load for Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer composite specimens was found using the model proposed by Wu et al. (2010) and nonlinear FE analysis. The ultimate loads obtained from FE analysis are found to be in good agreement with experimental ones. However, ultimate loads obtained applying Wu model are significantly different from experimental/FE ones. This suggested modification of Wu model. Modified Wu's model which gives a better estimate for the ultimate load of Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (SCFRP) composite specimen is presented in this paper.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제20권6호
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• pp.1275-1303
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• 2016

Steel plates and carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates or plates bonded to concrete substrates have been widely used for concrete strengthening. However, this technique cause plate debonding, which makes the strengthening system inefficient. The main objective of this study is to enhance the bond strength of externally bonded steel plates and CFRP laminates to the concrete surface by proposing new embedded adhesive and steel connectors. The effects of these new embedded connectors were investigated through the tests on 36 prism specimens. Parameters such as interfacial shear stress, fracture energy and the maximum strains in plates were also determined in this study and compared with the maximum value of debonding stresses using a relevant failure criterion by means of pullout test. The study indicates that the interfacial bond strength between the externally bonded plates and concrete can be increased remarkably by using these connectors. The investigation verifies that steel connectors increase the shear bond strength by 48% compared to 38% for the adhesive connectors. Thus, steel connectors are more effective than adhesive connectors in increasing shear bond strength. Results also show that the use of double connectors significantly increases interfacial shear stress and decrease debonding failure. Finally, a new proposed formula is modified to predict the maximum bond strength of steel plates and CFRP laminates adhesively glued to concrete in the presence of the embedded connectors.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.47-70
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• 2012

To enhance cable stiffness, this paper proposed a combined application of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) and steel materials, resulting in a novel type of hybrid stay cable system especially for the cable-stayed bridges with main span lengths of 1400~2800 m. In this combination, CFRP materials can conserve all their advantages such as light weight and high strength; while steel materials help increase the equivalent stiffness to compensate for the low elastic modulus of CFRP materials. An increase of the equivalent stiffness of the hybrid stay cable system could be further obtained with a reasonable increase of its safety factor. Following this concept, a series of parametric studies for the hybrid stay cable system with the consideration of stiffness and cost were carried out. Three design strategies/criteria, namely, best equivalent stiffness with a given safety factor, highest ratio of equivalent stiffness to material cost with a given safety factor, and best equivalent stiffness under a given cost were proposed from the stiffness and cost viewpoints. Finally, a comprehensive design procedure following the proposed design strategies was suggested. It was shown that the proposed hybrid stay cable system could be a good alternative to the pure CFRP or traditional steel stay cables in the future applications of super long span bridges.

• 국제강구조저널
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• 제18권4호
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• pp.1284-1296
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• 2018

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP), plates bonding repair method is one of the simple repair methods for cracked steel structures. In this study, the influence of width of CFRP plates on bending fatigue life of out-of-plane gusset joint strengthened with CFRP plates was investigated from the experimental and numerical point of view. In the bending fatigue test of cracked out-of-plane gusset joint strengthened with CFRP plates, the effect of width of CFRP plates on crack growth life was clarified experimentally. Namely, it was revealed that the crack growth life becomes larger with increasing the width of CFRP plates. In the numerical approach, the stress intensity factor (SIF) at the surface point of a semi-elliptical surface crack was estimated based on the linear fracture mechanics. Furthermore, the extended fatigue life of cracked out-of-plane gusset joint strengthened with CFRP plates was evaluated by using the estimated SIF at the surface point and the empirical formula of the aspect ratio of semi-elliptical crack. As the results of numerical analysis, the estimated fatigue life of the specimen strengthened with CFRP plates showed the good agreement with the test results.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제32권1호
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• pp.21-35
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• 2019

This study investigates the flexural behavior of steel-concrete composite beams strengthened with prestressed carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. An innovative mechanical anchorage system was developed. The components of the system can be easily assembled on site before applying a prestressing force, and removed from the structures after strengthening is completed. A total of seven steel-concrete composite specimens including four simply supported beams strengthened at the positive moment region and three continuous beams strengthened at the negative moment region were tested statically until failure. Experimental results showed that the use of prestressed CFRP plates enhanced the flexural capacity and reduced the mid-span deflection of the beams. Furthermore, by prestressing the CFRP laminates, the material was used more efficiently, and the crack resistance of the continuous composite specimens at the central support was significantly improved after strengthening. Overall, the anchorage system proved to be practical and feasible for the strengthening of steel-concrete composite beams. The theoretical analysis of ultimate bearing capacity is reported, and good agreement between analytical values and experimental results is achieved.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• 제30권1호
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• pp.69-79
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• 2019

Numerous problems have always vexed engineers with buckling, corrosion, bending, and over-loading in damaged steel structures. The present study aims to study the possible effects of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) for strengthening deficient Steel Square Hollow Section (SHS) columns. To this end, the effects of axial loading, stiffness values, axial displacement, the shape of deficient on the length of steel SHS columns were evaluated based on a detailed parametric study. Ten specimens were tested to failure under axial compression in laboratory and simulated by using Finite Element (FE) analysis based on numerical approach. The results indicated that the application of CFRP sheets resulted in reducing stress in the damage location and preventing or retarding local deformation around the deficiency location appropriately. In addition, the retrofitting method could increase loading the carrying capacity of specimens.