Experimental study of bond-slip of GFRP bars in concrete under sustained loads

The structural behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) elements depends heavily on the bond performance between the concrete and the reinforcing material. Bond behaviour under short-term testing has been extensively analysed for steel reinforcement and many studies have been carried out for fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement. However, there has only been limited investigation of the long-term effects of this interaction. Several factors can affect the long-term bond behaviour of these elements, the most important being bond length and the immediate and time-dependent properties of reinforcement and concrete (concrete grade, creep, shrinkage and stiffness). This time-dependent behaviour is likely to cause changes and redistributions in bond stresses not properly considered in the limited existing literature. In this experimental study, the bond performance of GFRP RC under sustained load is investigated through pull-out tests. A total of 12 pull-out specimens were tested for a period of between 90 and 130 days. Two concrete strengths (35 MPa and 50 MPa), two bond lengths (5 and 10 times the diameter of the reinforcing bar) and two reinforcing materials (glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) and steel) were used. Experimental results regarding immediate and time-dependent slip are presented and analysed here. In addition, some specimens were instrumented, with internal strain gauges in the reinforcing bar to provide data on the reinforcement strain, thus allowing the distribution of bond stresses and their evolution during sustained loading to be also presented and analysed.     

Bond behavior of GFRP and steel bars in ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete

The bond behavior of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) and steel bars embedded in ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC) was investigated according to embedment length and bar diameter. Post-peak bond stress-slip softening curve of the GFRP bars was obtained, and a wedging effect was quantitatively evaluated. Test results indicated that a normalized bond strength of 5 was applicable for steel bars embedded in UHPFRC, and the development lengths of normal- and high-strength steel bars were determined to be 2 and 2.5 times the bar diameter, respectively. The GFRP bars exhibited approximately 70% lower bond strength than the steel bars, and the bond stress additionally applied by the wedging effect increased almost linearly with respect to the slip. Based on dimensionless bond stress and slip parameters, an appropriate theoretical model for the bond stress and slip relationship of steel bars in UHPFRC was suggested, and it was verified through comparison with the test data.     

Experimental Investigation of Bond Stress and Deformations in LWAC Ties Reinforced with GFRP Bars

The structures' durability is an engineering concern for a long time but has been increased in the last years. Lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) combined with glass fibre reinforced polymer bars allows to create structures with high performance in terms of durability. The glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars have different ribs from those of steel bars, and consequently, its bond to concrete is affected. Moreover, the Young's modulus of GFRP is much below compared with that of steel, and this influences significantly the behaviour of structural elements reinforced with this material. This paper presents an experimental study focused on bond between LWAC and reinforcing bars of GFRP. Thirty‐six pull‐out tests were carried out using steel and GFRP bars. These reinforcements were combined with three types of concrete, all with the same design density 1900 kg m^?3 but with different values of compressive strength: 35, 55 and 70 MPa. Furthermore, 12 reinforced ties were tested, combining different types of bars (steel and GFRP), two different diameters (12 and 16 mm) and the three types of LWAC. Based on experimental results, several relations were established to understand the behaviour of LWAC structures reinforced with GFRP bars, mainly in the serviceability conditions. These results point out that ties deformation and crack width are very affected by the reduced Young's modulus of GFRP: deformations and crack width of ties reinforced with GFRP are significantly higher, approximately three times greater, compared with those of ties reinforced with steel. The tension stiffening effect was also analysed in detail, and it was found that it is slightly influenced by the concrete compressive strength but is highly dependent of the Young's modulus of the reinforcing material.     

海水浸泡对FRP筋-珊瑚混凝土粘结性能的影响

开展了30℃海水浸泡条件下玻璃纤维增强树脂基复合材料（GFRP）筋、碳纤维增强树脂基复合材料（CFRP）筋与珊瑚混凝土粘结性能的试验研究,分析了纤维增强树脂基复合材料（FRP）筋-珊瑚混凝土粘结滑移曲线特征、破坏形态及粘结强度变化。试验结果表明,海水浸泡后FRP筋力学性能和粘结性能均表现为不同程度的降低。随浸泡时间增加,GFRP筋表层树脂与纤维间的孔隙率明显增大,并逐渐出现脱粘现象,纤维本身遭受到侵蚀,而CFRP筋仅表面基体有少许损伤,其耐久性明显优于GFRP筋;FRP筋-珊瑚混凝土粘结强度呈现出先增加后减小的趋势,且后期下降速率逐渐变小,部分GFRP筋-珊瑚混凝土试件的破坏模式逐渐由筋被拔出转变为筋材断裂;增加保护层厚度能有效地减缓海水对GFRP筋的侵蚀,有利于保持GFRP筋-珊瑚混凝土间的粘结性能。     

Creep response of GFRP–concrete hybrid structures: Application to a footbridge prototype

Glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) pultruded profiles have been increasingly used in civil engineering structural applications in the past few decades owing to their high strength, low weight and corrosion resistance. Nevertheless, the low material moduli, which makes design most often governed by deformability and instability phenomena, the brittle failure mechanisms and the high initial costs, have been delaying their widespread use. Hybrid GFRP–concrete structural solutions have been proposed to overcome the aforementioned limitations, namely the low material moduli. Furthermore, GFRP material creep models suggest that such hybrid structures may reduce the creep deformations when compared to full GFRP structures. In this context, this paper presents experimental and analytical investigations about the creep behaviour of a hybrid GFRP–concrete footbridge comprising two I-shaped GFRP pultruded profiles and a thin deck made of steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC). The experiments comprised flexural creep tests on a 6.0 m long footbridge prototype subjected to a uniformly distributed load for up to 2642 h, during which deflections and axial deformations were monitored. In order to assess the influence of loading and environmental conditions on the creep behaviour of the structural system, the prototype was tested for three different combinations of load levels and seasons. Experimental results showed that (i) GFRP–concrete hybrid structures lead to a considerable decrease of the creep deformations of GFRP structures and that (ii) environmental conditions significantly influence the viscoelastic response of these hybrid structures. The models proposed, based on the creep response of the constituent materials, were able to predict the observed structural response for the different load levels and environmental conditions with very good accuracy. Therefore, they are proposed to predict the long-term response of GFRP–concrete structures instead of empirical models based on short-term experimental data.     

Experimental study on the bond behavior of deformed bars embedded in concrete subjected to lateral tension

The bond behavior of steel bars embedded in concrete, including the anchorage capacity and bond stress–slip relationship, is highly concerned owing to its importance in the design and checking calculation of reinforced concrete structures. The purpose of this paper is to present an experimental study on the bond behavior of deformed bars embedded in concrete subjected to lateral tension. In the experiment, a total of 237 pull-out specimens are tested. It is shown that the failure mode is influenced by the strength of concrete, ratio of the cover depth to bar diameter, and unfavorable lateral tension. The bond strength and the slip at the peak stress decreases with the increase of the unfavorable lateral tension for specimens in pull-out and splitting failures, but the ratio of the residual to ultimate bond strength almost keeps constant for specimens in pull-out failure. Based on the experimental results, an empirical formula for the bond stress–slip relationship is proposed. The empirical formula is in good agreement with the experimental results for specimens with different strengths of concrete, bar diameters, and combinations of lateral tensions.     

Effect of aging on bond of GFRP bars embedded in concrete

This paper presents an experimental investigation of the durability of the bond between GFRP bars and concrete, specifically as it relates to degradation of the GFRP-bar surface and behavior of the bar–concrete interface. The GFRP bars were embedded in concrete and exposed to tap water at 23 °C, 40 °C, and 50 °C to accelerate potential degradation. The bond strengths before and after exposure were considered as a measure of the durability of the bond between the GFRP bars and concrete. In addition, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize how bar aging affected the bond between the GFRP bars and the concrete. The results showed that aging did not significantly affect the durability of the bar–concrete interface under the conditions used in this study.     

Tensile stress–crack width law for steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete obtained from indirect (splitting) tensile tests

In this work, mode I fracture parameters of steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) were derived from the numerical simulation of indirect splitting tensile tests. The combined experimental and numerical research allowed a comparison between the stress–crack width (σ–w) relationship acquired straightforwardly from direct tensile tests, and the σ–w response derived from inverse analysis of the splitting tensile tests results. For this purpose a comprehensive nonlinear 3D finite element (FE) modeling strategy was developed. A comparison between the experimental results obtained from splitting tensile tests and the corresponding FE simulations confirmed the good accuracy of the proposed strategy to derive the σ–w law for these composites. It is concluded that the post-cracking tensile laws obtained from inverse analysis provided a close relationship with the ones obtained from the experimental uniaxial tensile tests.     

Nonlinear behavior of shear deficient RC beams strengthened with near surface mounted glass fiber reinforcement under cyclic loading

The aim of this investigation is to evaluate experimentally and numerically the cyclic loading response of reinforced concrete (RC) beams strengthened in shear with Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) rods using the near surface mounted (NSM) technique. The experimental results indicated that the use of GFRP rods as NSM strengthening systems can significantly enhance the overall capacity and ductility of shear deficient RC members when subjected to cyclic loading. In particular, the increase in the load-carrying capacity of the strengthened specimens over the unstrengthened control specimen was in the range of 49–66%. Furthermore, the increase in the displacement over the control specimen ranged between 112% and 172%. A 3D finite element (FE) model was also developed to simulate the response of the tested specimens. The developed FE model integrates multiple simulation techniques, nonlinear material properties and corresponding constitutive laws. The models incorporate concrete cracking, yielding of steel reinforcement, bond–slip behavior between NSM reinforcement and adhesive material and between steel reinforcement and adjacent concrete material, respectively. The load–deflection response envelopes and the load–deflection hysteresis loops of the experimentally tested beams and those simulated by the FE models were compared. Good matching was observed between the predicted and measured results at all stages of cyclic loading.     

Modelling the influence of age of steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete on its compressive behaviour

Steel fibre reinforced self-compacting concrete (SFRSCC) can combine the benefits of self-consolidating concrete technology with those derived from adding steel fibres to quasi-brittle cement based materials. In a recent applied research project joining pre-casting industry, private and public research institutions, a method was developed to design cost-competitive SFRSCC of rheological and mechanical properties required for the prefabrication of SFRSCC façade panels. To assure safe demoulding process of the panels, the influence of the concrete age on the compression behaviour of the SFRSCC should be known. For this purpose, series of tests with specimens of 12 h to 28 days were tested in order to analyze the age influence on the compressive strength, strain at peak stress, Young’s modulus, and compressive volumetric fracture energy. The experimental program was divided in two groups of test series, one with SFRSCC of a volumetric fibre percentage of 0.38% and the other with 0.57%. To apply the obtained data in the design and numerical analysis framework, the influence of the age on these SFRSCC properties was modelled. This work describes the carried out experimental program, presents and analyzes the obtained results, and provides the derived analytical expressions.     

Bar-concrete bond in mixes containing calcium carbide residue,fly ash and recycled concrete aggregate

A mixture of calcium carbide residue and fly ash (CRFA) is an innovative new binder for concrete instead of using ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Therefore, this study aims at investigating the bond interaction between common steel reinforcing bars and the aforementioned concrete. To this end, both CRFA and OPC concretes using crushed limestone and recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) as a coarse aggregate were prepared to investigate the bond strength of smooth and deformed bars by pull-out tests. The bond stress−slip relationships were also identified to determine the effects of CRFA binder and RCA on the bond strength behavior. The results indicate that the values the of bond-slip behavior and bond strengths of steel bar in CRFA concretes are similar to those embedded in OPC concrete. Moreover, the bond strength was significantly affected by RCA and the types of steel bar. Although the concretes had the same compressive strengths, the deformed bar embedded in CRFA concrete with RCA had a lower bond strength than the one with crushed limestone. However, the reduction in bond strength of the CRFA concrete with RCA was still less than that of OPC concrete with RCA. For the CRFA concretes, the bond strengths of the deformed bars were approximately 1.7–3.6 times higher than that of smooth bars.     

Reliability-based bond design for GFRP-reinforced concrete

Most of proposed models available so far associated with the evaluation of design embedded length of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) rods in concrete are not reliability-based. This paper made an attempt, from the probabilistic standpoint, to determine the design embedded length of a glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) rod in the case of splitting bond failure from concrete. The mathematical model put forward by Orangun et al. for evaluating the average bond strength of reinforcing bars in concrete for splitting failure has been adopted to develop the nonlinear limit state function corresponding to GFRP’s splitting bond failure in which five independent random variables, i.e. concrete strength, GFRP tensile strength, embedded length, GFRP diameter and computational uncertainty factor, are included. As the result of the probabilistic calibration procedures using the Rackwitz–Fiessler method, a non-dimensional factor K associated closely with the design embedded length of a GFRP rod in concrete is proposed to be 0.0306 with the suggested additional target reliability index of 1.10. The effects of some factors on GFRP’s design embedded length have been identified through the following parametric study. Although the calibration process is case-dependent to some extent, the proposed formula is thought to be acceptable for general bond design purposes of GFRP-reinforced concrete components.     

Pullout tests of epoxy-coated reinforcement in concrete

The bond strength and slip of epoxy-coated reinforcing bars in concrete have been evaluated by carrying out single pullout and double pullout tests. In extended single pullout tests, slip measurements were made while tensile force was applied to reinforcing bars embedded in concrete. In double pullout tests, 20 cycles of load were applied at levels of steel stress between zero and 0·5 times characteristic steel strength. Strains were measured by electrical resistance strain gauges glued inside the bars. Both epoxy-coated and uncoated bars were used in the investigation, to obtain comparative results. The strain gradient along the bar was found to be less for the coated reinforcement. In general, the epoxy coating was found to increase slip in bond and thereby reduce the bond performance of coated bars.     

Effect of surface pre-conditioning on bond of carbon fibre reinforced polymer rods to concrete

The experimental program developed in this work aims at investigating the possibility of using carbon fibre reinforced polymer rods to strengthen concrete structural members. Firstly, physical, chemical and mechanical tests were performed on carbon fibre reinforced polymer. Secondly, the bond between carbon fibre reinforced polymer rod and concrete was studied by using the pull-out test. Different types of surface treatment were applied to the smooth rods in order to enhance the bond with concrete. Firstly, the rods were machined using a lathe and a grinding stone to create lugs with different configurations. Secondly, the rods were coated with sand of various grain sizes. The sand was fixed on the rods with a thin layer of epoxy resin.The experimental results indicate that carbon fibre reinforced polymer rod seems to be a good option for strengthening concrete structural members. Results showed a very good physical, chemical and mechanical compatibility between the rods and the concrete. Depending on the surface treatment process, the ultimate bond strength can reach twice that of ribbed steel bars. Moreover, the residual friction between the carbon fibre reinforced polymer rods and the concrete (softening branch) remained equivalent to or greater than that of ribbed steel bar.     

Bond behaviour between recycled aggregate concrete and deformed steel bars

The results of thirty pullout tests carried out on 8 and 10 mm diameter deformed steel bars concentrically embedded in recycled aggregate concrete designed using equivalent mix proportions with coarse recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) replacement percentages of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 % are reported towards investigation of bond behaviour of RCA concrete. Bond strengths of the natural aggregate concrete and the RCA concrete was found to be comparable, particularly for the 10 mm rebars, and the RCA replacement percentage had an insignificant effect on peak bond stress values. However, for both the bar sizes, when the measured bond strengths were normalized with the respective compressive strengths, then the normalized bond strengths so obtained across all the RCA replacement percentages were higher for the RCA concrete compared to the natural coarse aggregate concrete. Further, higher normalized bond strength values were obtained for the 8 mm rebars compared to the 10 mm bars. An empirical bond stress versus slip relationship between RCA concrete and deformed steel bars has been proposed on the basis of regression analysis of the experimental data and it is conservatively suggested that anchorage lengths of 8 and 10 mm diameter deformed bars in RCA concrete may be taken the same as in natural aggregate concrete.     

Experimental study and code predictions of fibre reinforced polymer reinforced concrete (FRP RC) tensile members

Due to their different mechanical properties, cracking and deformability behaviour of FRP reinforced concrete (FRP RC) members is quite different from traditional steel reinforced concrete (SRC) having great incidence on their serviceability design. This paper presents and discusses the results of an experimental programme concerning concrete tension members reinforced with glass fibre reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars. The main aim of the study is to evaluate the response of GFRP reinforced concrete (GFRP RC) tension members in terms of cracking and deformations. The results show the dependence of load-deformation response and crack spacing on the reinforcement ratio. The experimental results are compared to prediction models from codes and guidelines (ACI and Eurocode 2) and the suitability of the different approaches for predicting the behaviour of tensile members is analysed and discussed.     

Bond of ribbed galvanized reinforcing steel in concrete

The ASTM beam end test (ASTM A944) has been used to compare the bond and slip behaviour of deformed (i.e. ribbed) galvanized, epoxy-coated and black steel bars in concrete. The objective was to determine whether galvanizing adversely affects bond strength. From a series of thirty specimens, the average bond strength of black steel and galvanized steel reinforcement used in these tests has been determined and bond stress has been shown to act uniformly over the embedded bar area. A slip value of approximately 0.4 mm has been confirmed to be associated with bond failure by concrete splitting. The results indicated that while epoxy coating resulted in a significant loss in bond strength of the order of 20% compared to black steel, there is no adverse effect on bond with the use of galvanized steel. Chromate treatment of galvanized bars is deemed unnecessary since there was no evidence of long term reduction in bond due to the possible effects of hydrogen gas evolution resulting from the reaction between zinc and wet concrete.     

Thermal effects on GFRP rebars: experimental study and analytical analysis

The bond mechanism between Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars and concrete is investigated through experimental testing and analytical modeling. This bond depends on several parameters such as temperature. The present paper studies the thermal effect, under high temperature up to 80°C, on bond behaviour at the interface GFRP bars/concrete through pullout-testing. These tests are conducted on specimens after 24 h of exposure at various temperatures. The thermal effect on an average short-term bond strengths and the pullout-load versus end-slip behaviours are compared to untreated specimens (20°C). Some pullout-tests on steel bars/concrete are also performed for the comparison. Experimental results show no significant change in the average bond strength for specimens subjected to temperatures up to +60°C. On the other hand at 80°C, there is a decrease of bond strength of about 22 and 28% for the 8 mm and the 16 mm diameter rods, respectively. An analytical model of the bond stress-slip response of a GFRP/concrete bar has been proposed. The results show good accuracy between the model and the experimental results.     

钢筋混凝土嵌入式滑移模型

提出一种钢筋混凝土嵌入式滑移模型,将模拟钢筋-混凝土交界面的无厚度粘结单元嵌入到混凝土单元中,保证粘结单元上、下表面分别与混凝土、钢筋单元变形协调,尔后通过两表面位移差值表征钢筋滑移。基于虚功原理集成钢筋、混凝土和粘结单元的刚度贡献,建立了嵌入式滑移模型的有限元平衡方程。应用该模型分析钢筋混凝土简支梁破坏试验,获得的构件承载力、裂缝分布形态和破坏模式与试验结果接近。结果表明:嵌入式滑移模型在分析钢筋混凝土结构承载力和裂缝形态方面具有一定的应用前景。     

Critical Analysis of Fibre‐Reinforced Polymer Near‐Surface Mounted Double‐shear Pull‐out Tests

The study of the bond behaviour between fibre‐reinforced polymer (FRP) systems and concrete is an issue that nowadays attracts many researchers. The scientific community dedicated to the research of FRP reinforcement has been conducting numerous experimental programmes aiming to assess the local bond–slip law of the FRP–adhesive–concrete connection. This paper reports the relevant results obtained by the Structural Composite Research Group of Minho University in the scope of an international Round Robin Test. The suitability of the recommended test setup to derive a local bond constitutive law for modelling the bond behaviour of near‐surface mounted reinforcement systems is discussed based on a deep interpretation of the results.