Assessment of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer Repair for Laterally Damaged Prestressed Concrete Girders

Abstract

This paper presents an investigation of the most efficient configuration of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) for repairing laterally damaged prestressed concrete (PS) bridge girders. The flexural behavior of 10 half-scale AASHTO type II 20-ft-long PS girders is presented in this paper. Lateral damage due to vehicle collision impact was simulated by sawing through the concrete of the bottom flange and slicing through one of the prestressing strands. The damaged concrete was repaired, and different CFRP repair configurations (longitudinal soffit strips and U-wrapping) were applied. Both the control and repaired PS girders were tested in flexure until failure using a four-point loading setup. Measurements of the applied load, the deflection at five different locations, strains along the cross-section height at mid-span, and multiple strains longitudinally along the bottom soffit were recorded. We also compared the performance of girders with full wrapping of CFRP to that of girders with longitudinal CFRP strips applied to the bottom of girders combined with discrete, spaced U-wrapping strips. Conclusions are drawn regarding the most efficient CFRP design configuration for avoiding CFRP debonding and undesired failure modes.