• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.15 no.6
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• pp.659-677
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• 2013

This paper introduces new specimens of Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer composite developed in accordance with standard test method and definition for mechanical testing of steel (ASTM-A370). The main purpose of this research is to study the behaviour of steel-CFRP composite specimen under uniaxial tension to use it in beams in lieu of traditional steel bar reinforcement. Eighteen specimens were prepared and divided into six groups, depending upon the number of the layers of CFRP. Uniaxial tensile tests were conducted to determine yield strength and ultimate strength of specimens. Test results showed that the stress-strain curve of the composite specimen was bilinear prior to the fracture of CFRP laminate. The tested composite specimens displayed a large difference in strength with remarkable ductility. The ultimate load for Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer composite specimens was found using the model proposed by Wu et al. (2010) and nonlinear FE analysis. The ultimate loads obtained from FE analysis are found to be in good agreement with experimental ones. However, ultimate loads obtained applying Wu model are significantly different from experimental/FE ones. This suggested modification of Wu model. Modified Wu's model which gives a better estimate for the ultimate load of Steel-Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (SCFRP) composite specimen is presented in this paper.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.509-514
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• 2001

The Fibre-optic Bragg grating (FBG) sensor is broadly accepted as a structural health monitoring device for Fibre reinforced plastic (FRP) materials by either embedding into or bonding onto the structures. The accuracy of the strain measured by using the FBG sensor is highly dependent on the bonding characteristics among the bare optical fibre, protective coating, adhesive layer and host material. In general, the signal extracted from the embedded FBG sensor should reflect the straining condition of the host structure. This paper presents a theoretical model to evaluate the differential strains between the bare fibre and host material with different adhesive thickness and modulus of the protective coating of the embedded FBG sensor.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.81-100
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• 2006

To calculate the shear capacity of concrete beams reinforced with fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP), current shear design provisions use slightly modified versions of existing semi-empirical shear design equations that were primarily derived from experimental data generated on concrete beams having steel reinforcement. However, FRP materials have different mechanical properties and mode of failure than steel, and extending existing shear design equations for steel reinforced beams to cover concrete beams reinforced with FRP is questionable. This paper investigates the feasibility of using artificial neural networks (ANNs) to estimate the nominal shear capacity, Vn of concrete beams reinforced with FRP bars. Experimental data on 150 FRP-reinforced beams were retrieved from published literature. The resulting database was used to evaluate the validity of several existing shear design methods for FRP reinforced beams, namely the ACI 440-03, CSA S806-02, JSCE-97, and ISIS Canada-01. The database was also used to develop an ANN model to predict the shear capacity of FRP reinforced concrete beams. Results show that current guidelines are either inadequate or very conservative in estimating the shear strength of FRP reinforced concrete beams. Based on ANN predictions, modified equations are proposed for the shear design of FRP reinforced concrete beams and proved to be more accurate than existing equations.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.70 no.3
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• pp.303-310
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• 2019

Any revision of seismic codes usually demands a higher capacity from structural members, making existing structures unsafe particularly from strength considerations. Retrofitting of capacity deficient members is very suitable for tackling such situations. This paper presents an experimental study on different retrofitting measures adopted for strengthening a series of reinforced concrete (RC) beams. Four identical RC beam specimens were casted, out of which three specimens were strengthened by different schemes (viz., bolted hot rolled flat, bolted cold-formed steel channel, and carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminate, respectively) on their tension face and tested under four-point monotonic loading. This study focuses on the investigation of the flexural behaviour of these retrofitted beams, observed in terms of strength and stiffness. It was concluded that all retrofitting measures improved the structural performance of these beams. However, the cost involved with each strengthening mode was proportional to the improvement in the performance achieved.

• Computers and Concrete
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.573-592
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• 2018

An analytical methodology for the calculation of the flexural and the shear capacity of concrete members with Fibre-Reinforced-Polymer (FRP) bars as tensional reinforcement is proposed. The flexural analysis is initially based on the design provisions of ACI 440.1R-15 which have properly been modified to develop general charts that simplify computations and provide hand calculations. The specially developed charts include non-dimensional variables and can easily be applied in sections with various geometrical properties, concrete grade and FRP properties. The proposed shear model combines three theoretical considerations to facilitate calculations. A unified flexural/shear approach is developed in flow chart which can be used to estimate the ultimate strength and the expected failure mode of a concrete beam reinforced with longitudinal FRP bars, with or without transverse reinforcement. The proposed methodology is verified using existing experimental data of 138 beams from the literature, and it predicts the load-bearing capacity and the failure mode with satisfactory accuracy.

• International Journal of Aerospace System Engineering
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.16-20
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• 2020

The recent trend is increasing towards the usage of polymer matrix composites since they have a wide variety of applications. They have applications in the field of aircraft and space industry, sporting goods, medical devices, marine and automotive applications and also in commercial usage. The most commonly used fibre-reinforced polymer matrix composite is Glass fibre reinforced epoxy (GFRE) composite which is used in aviation, sports and automotive industries. However, the strength of GFRE composites is not adequate for structural applications. Therefore, the current research focuses on increasing the strength of GFRE composites by reinforcing with micro Graphite (Gr) particulates. The Gr used is an ultra-fine powder with particle size 250 ㎛. Gr is known to have good wear resistance, thermal conductivity and can operate at high temperatures. Gr particulates are mixed with the epoxy matrix in various weight ratios. Hand-lay technique is used for fabricating the composites. Mechanical properties such as tensile strength, elongation, compressive strength and flexural strength are obtained experimentally to study the effect of change in Gr content (0-5 wt. %). The tests were done as per ASTM standards.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.81 no.6
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• pp.729-736
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• 2022

Earth is facing a serious problem of pollution and scarcity of energy sources. The synthetic fibers used in automobile and Aerospace manufacturing sectors are non-renewable and harmful to environment. International Agency such as FAA and SAE is forcing for green fuel, green materials and structures. Further exploration is much needed to understand its potential in structural applications. In the current study, hemp and Jute fibre based composites were developed and tested for assessing their suitability for possible applications in automobile and aerospace sectors. Composites were undergone tensile test, water absorption test, and fatigue analysis to understand its behavior under various loading conditions. The finite element analysis has been carried out to understand the fatigue behaviour of composites. The results revealed that the usage of hemp and jute fibre reinforced composites can improve mechanical properties and have shown a viable alternative to replace synthetic fibres such as glass fibres for specific applications. Hemp reinforced bio-composites have shown better performance as compared to Jute reinforced bio-composites while water resistance characteristics for hemp is poorer to jute fibres.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.169-188
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• 2001

This note presents the main results of an experimental investigation into the mechanical behaviour of a composite sandwich conceived as a lightweight material for naval engineering applications. The sandwich structure is formed by a three-dimensional glass fibre/polymer matrix fabric with transverse piles interconnecting the skins; the core is filled with a polymer matrix/glass microspheres syntactic foam; additional Glass Fibre Reinforced Plastics extra-skins are laminated on the external facings of the filled fabric. The main features of the experimental tests on syntactic foam, skins and sandwich panels are presented and discussed, with focus on both in-plane and out-of-plane responses. This work is part of a broader research investigation aimed at a complete characterisation, both experimental and numerical, of the complex mechanical behaviour of this composite sandwich.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.427-439
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• 2007

The exploitation of fibre reinforced polymer composites, as external reinforcement is an evergreen and well-known technique for improving the structural performance of reinforced concrete structures. The demand to use FRP composites in the civil engineering industry is mainly due to its high strength, light weight, and stiffness. This paper exemplifies the shear strength of partially precracked reinforced concrete rectangular beams repaired with externally bonded Bi-Directional Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) Fabrics strips. All specimens were cast in the laboratory environment without any internal shear reinforcement. The test parameters were longitudinal tensile reinforcement, shear span to effective depth ratio, spacing of CFRP strips, and orientation of CFRP reinforcement. It mainly focuses on the shear capacity and modes of failure of the CFRP strengthened shear beams. Results have shown that the CFRP repaired beams attained a shear enhancement of 32% and 107.64% greater than the control beams. This study underscores that the CFRP strip technique significantly enhanced the shear capacity of precracked reinforced concrete rectangular beams without any internal shear reinforcement.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.58 no.5
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• pp.825-845
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• 2016

The Turkish Earthquake Code was revised in 1998 and 2007. Before these Codes, especially 1998, reinforced concrete (RC) beams with low flexural and shear strength were widely used in the building. In this study, the RC specimens have been produced by taking into consideration the RC beams with insufficient shear and tensile reinforcement having been manufactured with the use of concrete with low strength. The performance of the RC specimens strengthened with different wrapping methods by using of Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) and Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) composites have been examined in terms of flexural strength, ductility and energy absorption capacity. In the strengthening of the RC elements, the use of GFRP composites instead of CFRP composites has also been examined. For this purpose, the experimental results of the RC specimens strengthened by wrapping with CFRP and GFRP are presented and discussed. It has been concluded that although the flexural and shear strengths of the RC beams strengthened with GFRP composites are lower than those of beams reinforced with CFRP, their ductility and energy absorption capacities are very high. Moreover, the RC beams strengthened with CFRP fracture are more brittle when compared to GFRP.