Hygrothermal conditioning of wet-layup CFRP-concrete adhesive joints modified with silane coupling agent and core-shell rubber nanoparticles

Abstract

The adhesive bond between externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) repairs and the concrete substrate can significantly deteriorate under hygrothermal conditions. The present study evaluated the epoxy adhesive toughening with core–shell rubber (CSR) nanoparticles and concrete surface functionalization with an epoxy-functional silane coupling agent as a means of improving the bond durability under hygrothermal exposure. To determine the effect of environmental degradation, beam bond test specimens were subjected to control conditions (standard laboratory conditions: 23 ± 2 °C and RH 50 ± 10%) and a hygrothermal accelerated conditioning protocol (ACP) (water immersion at 45 ± 1 °C) for 8 weeks. Bond test results indicate that CSR toughening and silane coupling agent can improve FRP-concrete adhesive bond strength retention following accelerated conditioning by up to 15% over that of neat epoxy. Following accelerated conditioning, CFRP coupons prepared with CSR-modified epoxy retain their mechanical properties, while the CFRP prepared with the neat epoxy exhibited a significant reduction in strength (40%) and elongation (54%). CSR nanoparticles demonstrated good compatibility with the base epoxy resin, as evidenced by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) glass transition temperature measurements.