Numerous studies in the literature have shown that the strengthening of steel members using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composites can significantly extend the fatigue life of these structures. However, not enough attention has been focused on the potential of prestressed CFRP reinforcements for fatigue crack arrest in such members. In the current study, a simple analytical model is proposed to calculate the required prestressing level in the CFRP reinforcements in order to arrest the propagation of an existing fatigue crack in tensile steel members. Furthermore, a novel mechanical unbonded system is developed to anchor the high prestressing forces in CFRP reinforcements to the steel substrate using friction. A set of fatigue tests are performed on unstrengthened and strengthened precracked steel plates to verify the proposed model. The experimental results of the current study showed that the application of nonprestressed ultra-high modulus CFRP plates as externally bonded reinforcements can increase the fatigue life of precracked steel plates by a factor of 4.3. However, fatigue crack arrest is only possible when prestressed CFRPs of a certain prestressing level are used. Based on the analytical, numerical, and experimental results of the current study, it can be concluded that existing fatigue cracks in tensile steel members can be arrested using the proposed prestressed unbonded reinforcement system with the initial prestressing level calculated using the proposed model. In addition, some design recommendations are provided for fatigue crack arrest in practical cases.
The study presents a new retrofit solution for strengthening metallic I-girders. The retrofit system involves two iron-based shape memory alloy (Fe-SMA, 'memory-steel') strips (each with a width and thickness of 50 and 1.5 mm, respectively) that are mechanically anchored (using friction clamps) to the girders. The shape memory effect (SME) of the Fe-SMA material has been used to activate/prestress the strips by heating to a predefined temperature. The main advantage of the proposed SMA-retrofit system is that, unlike conventional systems, it can prestress itself without a need for heavy hydraulic jacks, which then results in a significant reduction of the required time, labor works and cost of prestressing process. In order to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed retrofit system, in this study, a series of static and fatigue four-point bending tests were performed on a 6.4-m SMA-retrofitted beam. Five static
In this study, a novel retrofitting system is developed to strengthen existing metallic I-girders using prestressed unbonded carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plates. The system relies on a pair of mechanical clamps. Each clamp holds two CFRP plates (each having cross-sectional dimensions of 50 × 1.4 mm) and anchors their prestressing forces to a metallic I-girder via friction. A finite element (FE) model was established to optimize the design of the required mechanical components, and a set of pull-off tests was performed to evaluate the capacity of the optimized system. The proposed flat prestressed unbonded retrofit (FPUR) system was then applied on a 6.4-m-long steel I-beam, and the excellent performance of the system, in terms of stress reduction in the beam bottom flange, was confirmed based on the results of a set of static four-point bending tests. Moreover, a fatigue fourpoint bending test was conducted on the steel I-beam, strengthened using the proposed FPUR system with a prestressing level of 53% (i.e., approximately 1120 MPa prestress in the CFRPs). Experimental results of the high-cycle fatigue test confirmed the excellent fatigue performance of the proposed FPUR system, as no prestress loss was observed after 20 million fatigue cycles. An analytical model is proposed to accurately predict the stress state in an I-girder strengthened with the proposed FPUR system, while design recommendations are provided concerning the practical use of the system.Relying on the laboratory experimental test results, the proposed FPUR system was used to strengthen the metallic cross-girders of a 121-year-old bridge in Australia.
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