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BOND AND SPLICE BEHAVIOR OF CFRP LAMINATES FOR STRENGTHENING STEEL BEAMS

This paper describes an experimental program which was conducted to investigate the bond behavior of high modulus carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates. The objective of the testing was to establish an effective method to splice CFRP laminates proposed for strengthening long span steel bridges and structural members. Six double-lap shear coupons were tested to investigate various splice configurations and to investigate the suitability of different methods to reduce the bond stress concentrations which typically develop near the ends of the plates. The program also included nine steel beams that were strengthened with CFRP laminates and spliced at the midspan. Various configurations of splice cover plates were used at the midspan location to investigate the effectiveness of splicing the CFRP laminates. Several details were investigated to help reduce the bond stress concentration near the ends of the splice plate including increasing the length of the splice cover plate, implementing a reverse taper near the plate ends and applying a transverse CFRP wrap around the splice plate. All of the tested beams failed due to sudden debonding of the CFRP splice plate. The experimental results indicate that implementing the reverse tapered joint configuration can potentially reduce the shear stress concentrations near the plate ends and increase the capacity of the spliced joint. Increasing the length of the splice plate beyond a length of 400 mm did not significantly increase the splice capacity for the CFRP system that was investigated in this study. Similarly, the experimental results indicate that the presence of the transverse CFRP wrap did not increase the ultimate capacity of the spliced connection. This paper highlights the importance of proper detailing of CFRP plates to reduce bond stress concentrations and to increase the ultimate strength of bonded joints.