• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.171-183
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• 2017

Strengthening reinforced concrete (RC) beams with openings by using aramid fiber reinforcement polymers (AFRP) on the beams' surfaces offers a useful solution for upgrading concrete structures to carry heavy loads. This paper presents a repairing technique of the AFRP sheets that effectively strengthens RC beams, controls both the failure modes and the stress distribution around the beam chords and enhances the serviceability (deflection produced under working loads be sufficiently small and cracking be controlled) of pre-cracked RC beams with openings. To investigate the possible damage that was caused by the service load and to simulate the structure behavior in the site, a comprehensive experimental study was performed. Two unstrengthened control beams, four beams that were pre-cracked before the application of the AFRP sheets and one beam that was strengthened without pre-cracking were tested. Cracking was first induced, followed by repair using various orientations of AFRP sheets, and then the beams were tested to failure. This load was kept constant during the strengthening process. The results show that both the preexisting damage level and the FRP orientation have a significant effect on strengthening effectiveness and failure mode. All of the strengthened specimens exhibited higher capacities with capacity enhancements ranging from 21.8 to 66.4%, and the crack width reduced by 25.6-82.7% at failure load compared to the control beam. Finally, the authors present a comparison between the experimental results and the predictions using the ACI 440.2R-08 guidelines.

• Tribology and Lubricants
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.235-243
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• 2023

This paper presents the fabrication process of water-lubricated plastic bearings. Plastic bearings require good mechanical properties and tribological properties as well as elasticity and shock resistance, especially when lubricated in dirty water conditions. In this study, sleeve-type plastic bearings are produced by winding a prepreg sheet, which primary contains nitrile rubber (NBR)-modified epoxy, self-lubricating fillers, and various types of lattice-structured reinforcing fibers such as carbon, Aramid, and polyethylene terephthalate. A thermosetting epoxy is chemically modified with NBR to impart elasticity and low-friction characteristics in water conditions. Experimental investigations are conducted to examine the mechanical and tribological characteristics of the developed bearing materials, and the results are compared with the characteristics of a commercial plastic bearing (Thordon SXL), well known as a water-lubricated bearing. A Thordon bearing (mainly composed of polyurethane) exhibits an extremely low load-bearing capacity and is thus only suitable for medium loading (1~10MPa). The tribological characteristics of the test materials are evaluated through Falex block-on-ring (LFW-1) friction and wear tests. The results indicate that friction exhibited by the carbon-fiber-reinforced NBR-10wt.%-modified epoxy composite material, incorporated with the addition of 20wt.% UHMWPE and 6wt.% paraffin wax, is lower than that of the Thorden bearings, whereas its wear resistance surpass that of Thorden ones. Because of these features, the load carrying capacity of the fabricated composite (>10MPa) is higher than that of the Thorden bearings. These results confirm the applicability of water-lubricated plastic bearing materials developed in this study.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.171-178
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• 2019

Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have proved to be reliable as strengthening materials. Most of existing studies used single types of FRP composites. Therefore, in this experimental study, carbon FRP sheet, aramid FRP sheet, and hybrid FRP plate including glass fibers were fabricated, and the effect of pre-stressed FRP composites on flexural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) beams was investigated. In total, eight RC beam specimens were fabricated, including one control beam (specimen N) without FRP composites and seven FRP-strengthened beams. The main parameters were type of FRP composite, the number of anchors used for pre-stressing, and thickness of FRP plates. As a result, the beam strengthened with pre-stressed FRP plate showed superior performance to the non-strengthened one in terms of initial strength, strength and stiffness at yielding, and ultimate strength. As the number of anchors and thickness of FRP plate (i.e., amount of FRP plates) increased, the strengthening effect increased as well. When hybrid FRP plates were pre-stressed, the strengthening effect was higher in comparison with pre-stressed single type FRP plate.