Author(s): Dushimimana, Aloys ; Sena-Cruz, José ; Correia, Luís Luciano Gouveia ; Pereira, João Miguel ; Cabral-Fonseca, Susana ; Cruz, Ricardo
Date: 2024
Persistent ID: https://hdl.handle.net/1822/92901
Origin: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Subject(s): Bond; Concrete; Epoxy adhesive; CFRP; Ageing; Moisture; Freeze-thaw; Temperature; Carbonation; Airborne chlorides
Application of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites in strengthening of existing reinforced concrete (RC) structures has been widely accepted. However, the durability of adhesively bonded CFRP-concrete joint has not yet been fully investigated, which therefore paves the way to the topic addressed in this work: the durability of the joint in concrete elements strengthened with CFRP laminate using externally bonded reinforcement (EBR) technique. Concrete strengthened elements were kept in laboratory-controlled environments (approximately 20 ◦C/55 % RH, and water immersion at 20 ◦C), while others were kept outdoor to mainly promote natural ageing by carbonation, high temperatures, freeze-thaw attacks, and airborne chlorides. The results from durability tests after 4 years of exposure showed insignificant bond strength degradation but with a noticeable bond stiffness reduction, also, the stiffness degraded faster than the strength. Besides, environmental conversion factors of 0.75 and 0.95 were derived from a database of existing accelerated ageing test data and the natural ageing test data from the present work, respectively.
