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Selected Papers from The 7th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE 2014)

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A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 July 2015) | Viewed by 34537

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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Raafat El-Hacha

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Guest Editor

Department of Civil Engineering, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada
Interests: FRP strengthen concrete/steel structures; reinforcing/prestressing concrete structures; performance of hybrid structural members

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The organisers of CICE 2014 (The 7^th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering) are supporting a Special Issue of the Polymers Journal dedicated to the CICE 2014 conference. Selective papers were recommended through the CICE review process by the International Scietific Committee of the Conference to be expanded for a possible publication in this Special Issue. Authors been invited to submit their paper by July 1, 2015. All submissions to this special issue will receive a complete peer-review according to the journal guidelines; the invitation does not guarantee acceptance.

In order to meet our deadline of December 1, 2015, please note that the last date for initial paper submission is 1 July 2015, after which the submission site will be closed.

Prof. Dr. Raafat El-Hacha, PhD, FIIFC, PEng
Chairman, CICE 2014
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

FRP Strengthening
FRP in Seismic retrofitting
Bond and interfacial stresses
Confinement of concrete
FRP internal reinforcement
Prestressing with FRP
Durability/Long-term performance
FRP for sustainability
Hybrid FRP structures
Concrete filled FRP tubes
ALL-FRP and smart FRP structures
Fire, impact and blast loading
Inspection and quality assurance
Codes and design guidelines
FRP field applications and case studies

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

20343 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis on Adhesively-Bonded Joints of FRP-steel Composite Bridge under Combined Loading: Arcan Test Study and Numerical Modeling

by Xu Jiang, Xuhong Qiang, Henk Kolstein and Frans Bijlaard

Polymers 2016, 8(1), 18; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym8010018 - 15 Jan 2016

Cited by 21 | Viewed by 8311

Abstract

The research presented in this paper is an experimental study and numerical analysis on mechanical behavior of the adhesively-bonded joint between FRP sandwich bridge deck and steel girder. Generally, there are three typical stress states in the adhesively-bonded joint: shear stress, tensile stress, and combination of both. To realize these stress states in the adhesively-bonded joint during tests, a specific loading device is developed with the capacity of providing six different loading angles, which are 0°(pure tension), 18°, 36°, 54°, 72° and 90°(pure shear). Failure modes of adhesively-bonded joints are investigated. It indicates that, for the pure shear loading, the failure mode is the cohesive failure (near the interface between the adhesive layer and the steel support) in the adhesive layer. For the pure tensile and combined loading conditions, the failure mode is the combination of fiber breaking, FRP delamination and interfacial adhesion failure between the FRP sandwich deck and the adhesive layer. The load-bearing capacities of adhesive joints under combined loading are much lower than those of the pure tensile and pure shear loading conditions. According to the test results of six angle loading conditions, a tensile/shear failure criterion of the adhesively-bonded joint is obtained. By using Finite Element (FE) modeling method, linear elastic simulations are performed to characterize the stress distribution throughout the adhesively-bonded joint. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from The 7th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE 2014))

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1608 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Durability of Pultruded GFRP through Ten-Year Outdoor Exposure Test

by Itaru Nishizaki, Hiroki Sakuraba and Tomonori Tomiyama

Polymers 2015, 7(12), 2494-2503; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym7121525 - 30 Nov 2015

Cited by 16 | Viewed by 5322

Abstract

Pultrusion is an easy molding method of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) to obtain a long composite material with a uniform cross-section at relatively low cost. In some cases, pultruded FRPs are now used in bridges and deck projects. Since the application of pultruded FRP as a structural material is increasing, a study on the durability of pultruded FRP under outdoor conditions is necessary in terms of safety. Some studies have shown that pultruded glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) exhibits a slight reduction in mechanical properties during outdoor exposure. Since pultruded GFRP consists of multi-layers, the change of mechanical properties in each layer is important to understand. In this study, an outdoor exposure test on pultruded GFRP for 10 years was conducted with three types of pultruded GFRP, which have different laminate systems, including surface-coated specimens of each type. Changes of strength and elastic modulus due to outdoor exposure were discussed with a focus on the contribution of each layer based on the rule of mixtures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from The 7th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE 2014))

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4250 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Effect of Thermal Distress on Residual Behavior of CFRP-Strengthened Steel Beams Including Periodic Unbonded Zones

by Isamu Yoshitake, Hisatsugu Tsuda, Yail J. Kim and Nobuhiro Hisabe

Polymers 2015, 7(11), 2332-2343; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym7111517 - 17 Nov 2015

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 5472

Abstract

This paper presents the residual behavior of wide-flange steel beams strengthened with high-modulus carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates subjected to thermal loading. Because the coefficients of thermal expansion of the steel and the CFRP are different, temperature-induced distress may take place along their interface. Periodic unbonded zones are considered to represent local interfacial damage. Five test categories are designed depending on the size of the unbonded zones from 10 to 50 mm, and corresponding beams are loaded until failure occurs after exposing to a cyclic temperature range of ΔT = 25 °C (−10 to 15 °C) up to 84 days. The composite action between the CFRP and the steel substrate is preserved until yielding of the beams happens, regardless of the thermal cycling and periodic unbonded zones. The initiation and progression of CFRP debonding become apparent as the beams are further loaded, particularly at geometric discontinuities in the vicinity of the unbonded zones along the interface. A simple analytical model is employed to predict the interfacial stress of the strengthened beams. A threshold temperature difference of ΔT = 30 °C is estimated for the initiation and progression of CFRP debonding. Multiple debonding-progression stages in conjunction with the extent of thermal distress appear to exist. It is recommended that high-modulus CFRP be restrictively used for strengthening steel members potentially exposed to a wide temperature variation range. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from The 7th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE 2014))

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1198 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Flexural Strengthening of RC Slabs with Prestressed CFRP Strips Using Different Anchorage Systems

by José Sena-Cruz, Julien Michels, Yunus Emre Harmanci and Luís Correia

Polymers 2015, 7(10), 2100-2118; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym7101502 - 23 Oct 2015

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 7854

Abstract

Externally Bonded Reinforcement (EBR) technique has been widely used for flexural strengthening of concrete structures by using carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP). EBR technique offers several structural advantages when the CFRP material is prestressed. This paper presents an experimental and numerical study on reinforced (RC) slabs strengthened in flexure with prestressed CFRP strips as a structural strengthening system. The strips are applied as an externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) and anchored with either a mechanical or a gradient anchorage. The former foresees metallic anchorage plates fixed to the concrete substrate, while the latter is based on an accelerated epoxy resin curing followed by a segment-wise prestress force decrease at the strip ends. Both anchorage systems, in combination with different CFRP strip geometries, were subjected to static loading tests. It could be demonstrated that the composite strip’s performance is better exploited when prestressing is used, with slightly higher overall load carrying capacities for mechanical anchorages than for the gradient anchorage. The performed investigations by means of a cross-section analysis supported the experimental observation that in case a mechanical anchorage is used, progressive strip debonding changes the fully bonded configuration to an unbonded end-anchored system. The inclusion of defined debonding criteria for both the anchorage zones and free length between the anchorage regions allowed to precisely capture the ultimate loading forces. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from The 7th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE 2014))

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16074 KiB

Open AccessArticle

RC Columns Strengthened with Novel CFRP Systems: An Experimental Study

by Annalisa Napoli and Roberto Realfonzo

Polymers 2015, 7(10), 2044-2060; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym7101499 - 19 Oct 2015

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6856

Abstract

This paper presents an experimental study undertaken to investigate the seismic behavior of full scale square (300 mm × 300 mm) reinforced concrete (RC) columns strengthened with novel systems employing carbon fiber-reinforced polymers (CFRP) wraps. Experimental tests were carried out by subjecting specimens to a constant axial load and a cyclically reversed horizontal force applied in displacement control. Results have allowed for investigating the influence of the used strengthening systems on the specimens’ performance in terms of flexural strength and ductility as well as on the exhibited failure modes. The effectiveness of the studied techniques is also evaluated by comparing the performance of tested specimens with that of companion columns strengthened with alternative CFRP systems investigated in a previous experimental campaign. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Selected Papers from The 7th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering (CICE 2014))

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