Flexural rigidity evolvement laws of reinforced concrete beams strengthened with carbon fiber laminates

Extensive research has shown that externally bonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer （CFRP） laminates are particularly suitable for improving the fatigue behavior of reinforced concrete （RC） beams. This paper presents the research on flexural ngidity evolvement laws by testing 14 simple-supported RC beams strengthened with carbon fiber laminates （CFL） under cyclic load, and 2 under monotone load as a reference. The cyclic load tests revealed the peak load applied onto the surface of a supported RC beam strengthened with CFL is linear to the logarithm of its fatigue life, and the flexural rigidity evolvement undergoes three distinct phases： a rapid decrease from the start to about 5% of the fatigue life; an even development from .5% to about 99% of the fatigue life; and a succedent rapid decrease to failure. When the ratio of fatigue ＂cycles to the fatigue life is within 0.0.5 to 0.99, the flexural rigidity varies linearly with the ratio. The peak load does not affect the flexural rigidity evolvement if it is not high enough to make the main reinforcements yield. The dependences of the flexural rigidity of specimens formed in the same group upon their fatigue cycles normalized by fatigue life are almost coincident. This implies the flexural rigidity may be a material parameter independent of the stress level. These relationships of flexural rigidity to fatigue cycles, and fatigue life may be able to provide some hints for fatigue design and fatigue life evaluation of RC member strengthened with CFL; nevertheless the findings still need verifying by more experiments.

Analysis of vibration attenuation characteristics of large thickness carbon fiber composite laminates

The vibration attenuation and damping characteristics of carbon fiber reinforced composite laminates with different thicknesses were investigated by hammering experiments under free boundary constraints in different directions.The dynamic signal testing and analysis system is applied to collect and analyze the vibration signals of the composite specimens,and combine the self-spectrum analysis and logarithmic decay method to identify the fundamental frequencies of different specimens and calculate the damping ratios of different directions of the specimens.The results showed that the overall stiffness of the specimen increased with the increase of the specimen thickness,and when the thickness of the sample increases from 24mm to 32mm,the fundamental frequency increases by 35.1%,the vibration showed the same vibration attenuation and energy dissipation characteristics in the 0°and 90°directions of the specimen,compared with the specimen in the 45°direction,which was less likely to be excited and had poorer vibration attenuation ability,while the upper and lower surfaces of the same specimen showed slightly different attenuation characteristics to the vibration,the maximum difference of damping capacity between top and bottom surfaces of CFRP plates is about 70%.

Corrosion damage evolution and mechanical properties of carbon fiber reinforced aluminum laminate

Fiber metal laminates(FMLs),a kind of lightweight material with excellent comprehensive performance,have been successfully applied in aerospace.FMLs reinforced with carbon fiber have better mechanical properties than those with glass or aramid fiber.However,carbon fiber binding metal may lead to galvanic corrosion which limits its application.In this paper,electrochemical methods,optical microscope and scanning electron microscope were used to analyze the corrosion evolution of carbon fiber reinforced aluminum laminate(CARALL)in corrosive environment and explore anti-corrosion ways to protect CARALL.The results show that the connection between carbon fiber and aluminum alloy changes electric potential,causing galvanic corrosion.The galvanic corrosion will obviously accelerate CARALL corroded in solution,leading to a 72.1%decrease in interlaminar shear strength,and the crevice corrosion has a greater impact on CARALL resulting in delamination.The reduction of interlaminar shear strength has a similar linear relationship with the corrosion time.In addition,the adhesive layers between carbon fiber and aluminum alloy cannot protect CARALL,while side edge protection can effectively slow down corrosion rate.Therefore,the exposed edges should be coated with anti-corrosion painting.CARALL has the potential to be used for aerospace components.

PREDICTION OF FATIGUE LIVES OF RC BEAMS STRENGTHENED WITH CFL UNDER RANDOM LOADING

The investigation on fatigue lives of reinforced concrete （RC） structures strength- ened with fiber laminate under random loading is important for the repairing or the strengthening of bridges and the safety of the traffic. In this paper, two methods are developed for predicting the fatigue lives of RC structures strengthened with carbon fiber [aminate （CFL） under random loading based on a residual life and a residual strength model. To discuss the efficiency of the model, 12 RC beams strengthened with CFL are tested under random loading by the MTS810 testing system. The predicted residual strength approximately agrees with test results.

Study on Strengthening of RC Slabs with Different Innovative Techniques

This paper presents a focused study on using different methods to enhance the ultimate capacity of flexural behavior in RC slabs. Four RC specimens were casted with common compressive strength and reinforced with steel mesh. Specimens were strengthened with different methods such as usage of GFRP sheets, carbon fibers laminate strips and near surface mounted steel rebars. All specimens were subjected to two-point loading setup. Load was increased from zero to failure load. First crack was recorded and crack pattern was observed. The behavior of strengthened specimens was compared to that of the control specimen to judge the efficiency of the used techniques. Test results showed that the used techniques were effective in enhancing the behavior of the strengthened slabs by noteworthy values.

The Effect of Internal Delamination Damage on the Tensile Strength of Aeronautical Composites

For aeronautical composite materials,the appearance of internal delamination has a fatal impact on their mechanical properties and may even seriously threaten aircraft flight safety.In this study,the effect of internal delamination damage with different sizes and depths on the tensile strength of aeronautical composites was investigated.Firstly,based on carbon-fiber-reinforced composites commonly used in aircraft,laminate specimens with internal delamination damages of different depths and diameters were fabricated,and tensile tests of composite materials were carried out.Then,the finite element model for the carbon-fiber-reinforced laminate specimens was established,and the validity of the model was verified by comparing its simulation results with the experimental data.Furthermore,by changing the geometric parameters of the internal delamination damage model,the influence of delamination damage on the tensile strength of carbon-fiber-reinforced composites was analyzed and summarized.The results show that,on the one hand,for the internal delamination damages of the same area,the closer is the delamination damage to the surface layer,the lower is the tensile strength.In particular,the closer is the delamination damage to the surface layer,the greater is the decrease in tensile strength,which exhibits an obvious nonlinear relationship.On the other hand,for the internal delamination defects of the same depth,the difference in delamination area has little effect on the tensile strength.This law provides a reference for the damage detection and maintenance focus of aeronautical composite structures,which is of great significance to ensure the safe use of aeronautical composites.

FATIGUE LIFE PREDICTION OF RC BEAMS STRENGTHENED WITH PRESTRESSED CFRP UNDER CYCLIC BENDING LOADS

The application of prestressed carbon reinforced polymer （prestressed CFRP） in reinforced concrete （RC） members can improve the mechanical properties of strengthened structures and strengthening efficiency. This paper proposed a semi-empirical prediction fornmla of fatigue lives of the RC beams strengthened with prestressed CFRP under bending loads. The formula is established based on the fatigue life prediction method of RC beams and fatigue experimental data of non-prestressed CFRP reinforced beams done before. Fatigue effect coefficient of the formula was confirmed by the fatigue experiments of the RC beams strengthened with prestressed carbon fiber laminate （prestressed CFL） under cyclic bending loads. Fatigue lives of the strengthened beams predicted using the formula agreed well with the experimental data.