Abstract
This investigation consists of two parts (outdoor and laboratory experiments). The first part described RC slabs strengthened with prestressed and non-prestressed CFRP strips; these slabs were loaded and exposed to an outdoor environment for four years. It was found that the elevated temperatures reached in the adhesive did not significantly affect the service behaviour of non-prestressed EB CFRPs, but could lead to the failure of the prestressed system.In the second part of the discussion, laboratory experiments are presented. Failure tests were performed to determine the ultimate strengths of the slabs. The results demonstrate that long-term exposure (thermal cycles and sustained load) does not affect the load-carrying capacity of the strengthened RC elements. Furthermore, an additional slab with an identical strengthening configuration was tested after being subjected to thermal cycles under a heavy sustained load under laboratory conditions, allowing us to better understand and verify the results obtained during the long-term experiments.
Highlights
FRPs have been commonly used to strengthen civil structures over the last few decades
To assess if the load-carrying capacity was affected by the long-term outdoor exposure and sustained loading, the ultimate strength was evaluated based on laboratory failure tests
SGs were used to monitor the strain on the CFRP strips during the thermal cycles and failure tests
Summary
FRPs have been commonly used to strengthen civil structures over the last few decades. The adhesion properties of a bonded CFRP can be significantly affected by the expo sition classes and types of loading action Both the serviceability per formance and ultimate strength of the structure can be affected. In the first part of this study [21], despite the adequate behaviours of the strengthened non-prestressed slab, it was observed that the CFRP strains increased significantly over time. In this part, to assess if the load-carrying capacity was affected by the long-term outdoor exposure and sustained loading, the ultimate strength was evaluated based on laboratory failure tests. A failure test for assessing the residual ultimate strength followed the thermal cycle phase
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