Comparative Test on the Bond Damage of Steel and GFRP Bars Reinforcing Soft Rock Slopes

Soft rock slopes were anchored with traditional steel bars and new Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars. The difference in the anchorage performance of the two kinds of anchorage elements in soft rock and expansive soil was studied by an in-situ test. The results show that cyclic load can aggravate the bond damage of the interface between grouting body and both kinds of bars used in soft rock. Compared with the number of cyclic loads applied, the previous maximum load is the main factor that influences the bond damage of the anchorage bar. Under constant loading, the interface bond behaviour of GFRP bar is better than the steel bar. Because of the small difference in elastic modulus between the GFRP bar and the grouting body, the interface bond around the GFRP bar can invoke more resistance of the grouting body efficiently which demonstrates its more effective anchorage performance than the steel bar under the same conditions. The anchorage structure of steel bar in soft rock can generate larger interfacial relative displacement with increasing load than the GFRP bar in the anchorage section, even though the elastic modulus of steel is much larger than GFRP. In the expansive soil, the anchorage structure deformations of steel and GFRP bars are almost the same because of the weaker bond at the interface of the grouting body and the surrounding soil than that of the bar interface. Under the ultimate loading of the anchorage structure in soft rock, the steel bar with 450 MPa which is less than its ultimate strength shows the failure of the bar body pulling-out, and the GFRP bar with 508 MPa which is larger than its ultimate strength shows the failure of the bar body by fracture. The steel bar anchorage structure in soft rock is destroyed at the interface around the grouting body. The results show that the GFRP bar performs more efficiently than the steel bar.

A Study on Chemical Ageing of Composite Ribbed GFRP Bars under Load

Here we explored the chemical durability of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars under load. Three batches of ribbed GFRP bar specimens were fabricated using binder matrices: ED-22+isomethyltetrahydrophthalic anhydride (iso-MTGFA), ED-22+Ethal-450 and NPPN-631+ iso-MTGFA. As the reinforcing filler, we used an EC17 glass roving (for all the specimen batches). The specimens of each batch were aged in a 1 N alkaline NaOH solution at 60 °C for 2000 hrs. The ageing was performed under a 300 MPa load (30% of the failure stress). The tensile strength of the specimens from each batch following ageing was measured. The tensile test results demonstrated that that the strength loss of the specimens following chemical ageing was 58.9% for batch 1 based on ED-22+iso-MTGFA, 6.6% for batch 2 based on ED-22+Ethal-450, and 33.6% for batch 3 based on NPPN-631 + iso-MTGFA. The specimens of batch 2 based on ED-22+Ethal-450 exhibited the greatest resistance to the NaOH alkaline solution (a strength loss of 6.6%).

Experimental Study on Mechanical Properties of Novel FRP Bars with Hoop Winding Layer

Due to the fact that steel reinforcement is vulnerable to corrosion, FRP bars with light weight, high strength, and excellent durability have become a good substitute for ordinary steel bars. FRP bars have high tensile strength, but their compressive strength is relatively low and often neglected, so the application of FRP bars in compression members has been restricted. This paper proposes a new pultrusion-winding-pultrusion method to improve the compressive ability of FRP bars. A hoop FRP layer is winded on the outer surface of the pultruded FRP core, and a longitudinal pultruded layer and ribs are also added on the outermost surface. In this paper, mechanical properties of this novel FRP bar with hoop winding layer are investigated. First, monotonic tensile and compressive tests on traditional and novel GFRP bars were conducted. Then, cyclic tension-compression loading tests were also carried out on the two types of GFRP bars. Test results showed that the compressive ultimate bearing capacities of GFRP bars with winding layers were 10∼20 kN greater than those of the traditional GFRP bars, and the compressive ductility of the novel GFRP bars was also improved. Furthermore, the tensile stress-strain behaviors of both GFRP bars were linear-elastic and the added winding layer did not greatly influence the tensile properties of the GFRP bars. Moreover, for the cyclic loading test, the compressive ultimate load of GFRP bars was 80%∼90% of that under monotonic compressive test, and the tensile ultimate load was 45%∼65% of that under monotonic tensile test. Compared with the GFRP bar without winding layer, the overall stiffness of the novel GFRP bar was greater than that of the traditional one and the ultimate load of the novel GFRP bar was also greater. In addition, seeing that the residual displacement of the novel GFRP bar was greater than that of the traditional GFRP bar, winding hoop fibers on the outer surface of the core is a useful way to improve the energy dissipation capacity of the GFRP bar.