This paper proposes a theoretical solution for predicting the pullout properties of a single fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) rod embedded in a bond type anchorage based on a trilinear bond–slip model. The radial variation of the shear stress and reaction of the steel sleeve are considered in the solution. Pullout procedure with elastic, elastic-softening, elastic-softening-debonding, pure softening, softening-debonding, and debonding stages, as well as the corresponding critical stages, are analyzed. In this theoretical solution, the maximum pullout load, shear stress along the rod–grout interface, axial tensile stress of the FRP rod, and load–slip relationship are derived with explicit formulations. Effective bond length of bond type anchorage is also discussed. The solution is validated against experimental results available in literature. The theoretical solution reveals that the anchorage may attain its maximum pullout load in the elastic-softening, pure softening, or elastic-softening-debonding stage. Moreover, the effects of embedded length, ultimate shear stress, and residual shear stress on maximum pullout load closely related with the stage in which the anchorage attains its maximum pullout load. However, the effect of radius of FRP rod on the maximum pullout load increases with the embedded length, no matter in which stage the anchorage attains its maximum pullout load.
The usage of carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) to strengthen cracked steel structures can effectively improve its bear capacity, so it has been extensively used in recent years. The degradation of interfacial bonding is one of the most important factors affecting the durability of CFRP–steel structures under a freeze–thaw(F–T)/wet–dry (W–D) environment. In this study, epoxy resin adhesive (ERA) dog-bone specimens and CFRP–steel double-lap joints (bonded joints) were prepared. F–T/W–D cycles experiment and tensile tests of the ERA specimens and the bonded joints were also performed. Under F–T/W–D cycles, the main properties of the ERA specimens and the bonded joints were examined. Results indicated that fracture failure occurred in all ERA specimens. The hybrid failure modes of fiber peeling on the surface of CFRP plate and the bonded interface peeling between the CFRP plate and ERA layer primarily occurred in the bonded joints. The failure of both of them can be considered to be brittle, which was unaffected by the F–T/W–D cycles. With increased F–T/W–D cycles, the ultimate load and tensile strength of the ERA specimens initially increased and then decreased, whereas the elastic modulus initially increased and then remained unchanged. The ultimate load of the bonded joints decreased gradually. Based on the relationship between the interfacial bond-slip parameters and the number of F–T/W–D cycles, the bond–slip model of the bonded joints was established. The proposed relationship was validated by comparing with the experimental bond-slip relationships and the predicted relationships under the F–T/W–D cycles.
In this study, we proposed a novel composite anchorage that considers the anchoring performance and dimension simultaneously. The design concept of this composite anchorage was first introduced, followed by comparison with the traditional inner-cone bond-type anchorage and traditional composite anchorage through theoretical and experimental methods. Then, a parametric study was conducted to determine the influence of different parameters on the anchoring performance, and the optimal design parameters were recommended according to the finite element (FE) and test results. Finally, the practicability of the optimal design parameters were validated through experiments on the anchorage with multiple CFRP tendons. Results showed that the novel composite anchorage could improve the anchoring performance compared with the traditional inner-cone bond-type anchorage by promoting increased anchorage efficiency by 60.4% and, with an ideal failure mode of tendon rupture. Moreover, the novel composite anchorage had smaller dimensions and avoided the presence of a vulnerable position at the junction of the mechanical and bond parts compared with the traditional composite anchorage. In addition, a group of optimal design parameters of this composite anchorage with a pre-tightening force of 130 kN, an inclinational differential angle of 0.1°, an inclination angle of 2.9°, and an embedded length of 30 d~40 d were proposed. The composite anchorage with five CFRP tendons designed with the proposed parameters failed with the rupture of the tendons and exhibited an anchoring efficiency of 1.05. This result showed that the optimal parameters were suitable for this novel composite anchorage to grip multiple tendons. This study can provide an experimental and theoretical basis for designing large-tonnage anchorage for multiple FRP tendons used as hangers or cables in real bridges.
1 January 2018 in Advances in Materials Science and Engineering
The effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of concrete is the most important parameter in determining the temperature field and thermal stresses. A 2D random polygonal aggregate model and its modified model considering porosity were established in this paper in order to partially replace the experiment for parametric analysis on the ETC of concrete and to save the experiment cost. A mesoscopic finite element method for the ETC of concrete with arbitrary gradation was also proposed. In addition, the influence factors (thermal conductivity of coarse aggregate, cement mortar, and volume fraction of coarse aggregate) of the effective thermal conductivity of concrete were analyzed. The results show that the 2D gradation curve of coarse aggregates is proved to exist, and there is a corresponding relationship between the 2D and 3D gradation curves of coarse aggregates. The effective thermal conductivity of concrete has a positive exponential relationship with the volume fraction of coarse aggregates, a positive logarithm relationship with the thermal conductivity of coarse aggregates, and a positive linear correlation with the thermal conductivity of cement mortar. The most practical way to improve the effective thermal conductivity of concrete is to increase the ETC of the cement mortar, but the most effective way is to replace the aggregate with a material with a high thermal conductivity.
17 December 2018 in EURASIP Journal on Image and Video Processing
Surface-opening crack is one of the main defects in concrete bridges, which results in degradation in the load-carrying capacity of these structures. Thus, estimating the depth of such surface-opening crack is vital. This study presents impact-echo (IE) and non-contact video-based methods to estimate the surface-opening crack of concrete beams in the laboratory, and the results are compared with visual inspection. Results show that the IE method estimates a considerably larger crack depth than the non-contact video-based method and visual inspection. Although the difference between the depth measured by non-contact video-based method and visual inspection is small, the depth estimated by non-contact video-based method is slightly larger than that measured by visual inspection because it can identify the unrecognizable micro-crack by visual inspection. Moreover, when adopting the IE method, the depth of inclined crack is more overestimated than the vertical crack.
Traffic loads are the primary external loads on bridges during their service life. However, an accurate analysis of the long-term effect of the operating traffic load is difficult because of the diversity of traffic flow in terms of vehicle type and intensity. This study established a traffic load simulation method for long-span bridges based on high authenticity traffic monitoring data, and an improved k-means clustering algorithm and Correlated variables Sampling based on Sobol sequence and Copula function (CSSC) sampling method. The monitoring traffic data collected through a weigh-in-motion (WIM) system was processed to generate a multi-lane stochastic traffic flow. The dynamic response of a prototype suspension bridge under a traffic load was analyzed. The results show that the traffic load can be divided into clusters with identical distribution characteristics using a clustering algorithm. Combined with CSSC sampling, the generated traffic flow can effectively represent daily traffic and vehicle characteristics, which improves the accuracy of the assessment of the loads long-term effect. The dynamic response of the bridge to different traffic flows varied significantly. The maximum and minimum vertical displacement of the main girder was 0.404 m and 0.27 m, respectively. The maximum and minimum bending stresses of the short suspender were 50.676 MPa and 28.206 MPa, respectively. The maximum equivalent bending stress and axial stress were 16.068 MPa and 10.542 MPa, respectively, whereas the minimum values were 9.429 MPa and 8.679 MPa, respectively. These differences directly influence the short and long-term evaluation of bridge components. For an accurate evaluation of the bridge operation performance, the traffic flow density must be considered.