• Composites Research
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.11-16
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• 2011

Retention of interfacial shear strength (IFSS) of polymer composites at cryogenic temperature application is very important. In this work, single carbon tiber reinforced epoxy compositc was used to evaluate IFSS and apparent modulus under room and cryogenic temperatures. The property change of carbon and selected epoxy for particularly cryogenic temperature application were tested in tension and compression. Tensile strength and elongation of carbon fiber decreased at cryogenic temperature, whereas tensile modulus was almost same. On the other hand, epoxy matrix showed the increased tensile strength but decreased elongation. It can be due to maximum thermal contraction existing free volume in cryogenic temperature. IFSS increased up to $-10^{\circ}C$ and then decreased steadily. However, IFSS at cryogenic temperature was still similar to that at room temperature. This result is very useful to cryogenic application since selected epoxy toughness and interfacial adhesion can keep at such low temperature.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.6 no.6
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• pp.645-658
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• 2018

Despite being one of the most abundantly used construction materials because of its exceptional properties, concrete is susceptible to deterioration and damage due to various factors particularly corrosion, improper loading, poor workmanship and design discrepancies, and as a result concrete structures require retrofitting and strengthening. In recent times, Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) composites have substituted the conventional techniques of retrofitting and strengthening of damaged concrete. Most of the research studies related to concrete strengthening using FRP have been performed on undamaged test specimens. This contribution presents the results of an experimental study in which concrete specimens were damaged by mechanical loading and elevated temperature in laboratory prior to application of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) sheets for strengthening. The test specimens prepared using concrete of target compressive strength of 28 MPa at 28 days were subjected to compressive and splitting tensile testing up to failure and the intact pieces of the failed specimens were collected for the purpose of repair. In order to induce damage as a result of elevated temperature, the concrete cylinders were subjected to $400^{\circ}C$ and $800^{\circ}C$ temperature for two hours duration. Concrete cylinders damaged under compressive and split tensile loads were re-cast using concrete and rich cement-sand mortar, respectively and then strengthened using CFRP wrap. Concrete cylinders damaged due to elevated temperature were also strengthened using CFRP wrap. Re-cast and strengthened concrete cylinders were tested in compression and splitting tension. The obtained results revealed that re-casting of specimens damaged by mechanical loadings using concrete & mortar, and then strengthened by single layer CFRP wrap exhibited strength even higher than their original values. In case of specimens damaged by elevated temperature, the results indicated that concrete strength is significantly dropped and strengthening using CFRP wrap made it possible to not only recover the lost strength but also resulted in concrete strength greater than the original value.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
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• v.20 no.5
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• pp.14-19
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• 2016

This study is about the effect of nitrogen gas pressures during manufacturing process on the mechanical properties of composite materials. $TiO_2$/epoxy resin nanocomposites and carbon fiber reinforced epoxy resin(CFRP) composites were fabricated under various nitrogen gas pressures. Tensile strength test, vicker's hardness test and fracture surface observation were carried out to investigate the effect of nitrogen gas pressure. As a result, the tensile strength of nanocomposite and CFRP composites showed clearly increasing tendency by a change in the nitrogen gas pressure up to 3.0 atm and then the tensile strength decreased a little. However, the vicker's hardness of $TiO_2$/epoxy nanocomposites showed same hardness values regardless of the nitrogen gas pressures.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2010

Bonding of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites has become a popular technique for strengthening concrete structures in recent years. The bond stress between concrete and CFRP is the main factor determining the strength, rigidity, failure mode and behavior of a reinforced concrete member strengthened with CFRP. The accurate evaluation of the strain is required for analytical calculations and design processes. In this study, the strain between concrete and bonded CFRP sheets across the notch is tested. In this paper, indirect axial tension is applied to CFRP bonded test specimen by a four point bending tests. The variables studied in this research are CFRP sheet width, bond length and the concrete compression strength. Furthermore, the effect of a crack- modeled as a notch- on the strain distribution is studied. It is observed that the strain in the CFRP to concrete interface reaches its maximum values near the crack tips. It is also observed that extending the CFRP sheet more than to a certain length does not affect the strength and the strain distribution of the bonding. The stress distribution obtained from experiments are compared to Chen and Teng's (2001) analytical model.

• Korean Journal of Materials Research
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.299-303
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• 1998

We examined, using thermoanalytical methods, the effects of $2000^{\circ}C$ heat-treated graphite powders and heating rate of cure after impregnation on the thermal stability and carbon yield of furfuryl alcohol, which is frequently used not only as an impregnant but also as a matrix precursor for carbon fiber-reinforced carbon composites. It was founded that the addition of 30wt% graphite powders to furfuryl alcohol and the heating rate of $35^{\circ}C$/min showed the highest thermal stability of furfuryl alcohol/graphite powder mixture. The carbon yield above $1000^{\circ}C$ was enhanced more than 10% in comparison with the absence of graphite powders. It would be expected that this result can contribute to some extent to reduce the repeating number of processing cycle (carbonization-impregnation-cure-re-carbonization) required to densify a carbonaceous composite.

• Composites Research
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.207-212
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• 2013

In this study, the thickness optimization for uni-directional (UD) glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) laminates of the spar cap of composite tidal blades was performed under the tip deflection constrains. The spar cap was composed of GFRP composites and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. The stress distributions in the blade as well as its material costs for the optimized results were additionally investigated. The optimized thickness was obtained by interacting a sequential quadratic programming (SQP) algorithm and an ABAQUS software to calculate an objective function. It was confirmed that the thickness of UD GFRP increased with a decrease of the restrained tip deflection when a thickness of UD CFRP laminates was constrained to 9 mm. The weight of the optimized spar-cap increased up to 96.2% while the maximum longitudinal tensile stress decreased up to 24.6%. The thickness of UD GFRP laminates increased with a decrease of the thickness of UD CFRP laminates when the tip deflection was constrained to 126.83 mm. The weight increased up to 40.1%, but the material cost decreased up to 16.97%. Finally, the relationships among the weight, internal tensile stress, and material costs were presented based on the optimized thicknesses of the spar cap.

• Composites Research
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.161-166
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• 2016

Carbon nanotube buckypaper (CNTs-BP)/thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) elastomer composites were successfully fabricated. The CNTs-BP/PU nanocomposites exhibited simultaneous improvements in both tensile modulus and strength by 1360 and 430%, respectively, as compared to pure PU. Possible reinforcing mechanisms were evidenced by SEM analyses and tensile tests. The CNTs-BP/PU nanocomposites can be potentially used as an inter-reinforcing agent in ultra-lightweight, high-strength aircraft, carbon-fiber-reinforced plastics, etc.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.535-544
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• 2016

This paper aims at examining the effects of sustained load and elevated temperature on the time-dependent deformation of a carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets bonded to concrete as well as the pull-off strength of single-lap shear specimens after the sustained loading period using digital images. Elevated temperature during the sustained loading period resulted in increased slip of the CFRP composites, whereas increased curing time of the polymer resin prior to the sustained loading period resulted in reduced slip. Pull-off tests conducted after sustained loading period showed that the presence of sustained load resulted in increased pull-off strength and interfacial fracture energy. This beneficial effect decreased with increased creep duration. Based on analysis of digital images, results on strain distributions and fracture surfaces indicated that stress relaxation of the epoxy occurred in the 30 mm closest to the loaded end of the CFRP composites during sustained loading, which increased the pull-off strength provided the failure locus remained mostly in the concrete. For longer sustained loading duration, the failure mode of concrete-CFRP bond region can change from a cohesive failure in the concrete to an interfacial failure along the concrete/epoxy interface, which diminished part of the strength increase due to the stress relaxation of the adhesive.

• Composites Research
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.68-75
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• 2024

Polypropylene (PP), a thermoplastic resin with excellent mechanical, thermal, chemical, and water resistance properties, has been attracting attention due to its economic efficiency and recyclability. However, repeated processing of thermoplastic resins can lead to property degradation, and the point at which quality degradation occurs varies depending on the processing conditions. In this study, we evaluated the performance changes of composite materials with repeated processing by blending PP resin with various additives and conducting extrusion and injection processes repeatedly. In addition, we evaluated the mechanical properties of composite materials to evaluate the effect of MFI value change during repeated processing on fiber impregnation in composite material processing.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.56 no.6
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• pp.899-916
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• 2015

Upgrading or strengthening of existing reinforced concrete (RC) infrastructure is an emerging demand nowadays. Near Surface Mounted (NSM) technique is very promising approach for flexural strengthening of RC members. However, premature failure such as concrete cover separation failure have been a main concern in utilizing this technique. In this study, U-wrap end anchorage with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) fabrics is proposed to eliminate the concrete cover separation failure. Experimental programs were conducted to the consequence of U-wrap end anchorage on the flexurally strengthened RC beams with NSM-steel. A total of eight RC rectangular beam specimens were tested. One specimen was kept unstrengthened as a reference; three specimens were strengthened with NSM-steel bars and the remaining four specimens were strengthened with NSM-steel bars and U-wrap end anchorage using CFRP fabrics. A 3D non-linear finite element model (FEM) was developed to simulate the flexural response of the tested specimens. It is revealed that NSM-steel (with and without end-anchors) significantly improved the flexural strength; moreover decreased deflection and strains compared with reference specimen. Furthermore, NSM-steel with end anchorage strengthened specimens revealed the greater flexural strength and improve failure modes (premature to flexure) compared with the NSM-steel without end anchorage specimens. The results also ensured that the U-wrap end anchorage completely eliminate the concrete cover separation failure.