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Composites: Part B
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a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t
Article history: Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) retrot systems for concrete structures have been widely used, and stud-
Received 21 June 2010 ies on their short-term debonding behavior have been extensively conducted. Nevertheless, long-term
Received in revised form 15 September performance and durability issues regarding debonding behavior in such strengthening systems still
2010
remain largely uncertain and unanswered. Due to its composite nature, the effectiveness of the strength-
Accepted 2 November 2010
Available online 11 November 2010
ening system largely depends on the properties of the interface between the three constituent materials,
namely concrete, epoxy, and FRP. Many factors can cause degradation of the interface properties, espe-
cially environmental exposure during service life. In this study, effects of moisture on concrete/epoxy/
Keywords:
B. Debonding
FRP bond system is characterized by means of the tri-layer fracture toughness, which can be obtained
B. Environmental degradation experimentally from peel and shear fracture tests. An irreversible weakening in bond strength has been
B. Interface/interphase observed in fracture specimens under moisture cyclic condition. Based on the experimental results of
B. Fracture toughness fracture specimens under variable moisture conditions, an empirical model can be developed to predict
service life of FRP-strengthening system.
2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction which could signicantly affect the load capacity of the retrotted
systems [58]. This failure behavior is undesirable due to its lack of
Fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials have become materi- prior indication and brittle nature. In many situations, it is critical
als of choice for strengthening and retrotting of civil infrastruc- to consider this issue, especially when a FRP-strengthened beam is
tures as a result of design code revision, physical aging, subjected to severe environments during its service life, causing
environmental deterioration, and catastrophic events. Compared deterioration of the bond strength.
to conventional repair materials, such as steel, FRP has higher Various specimen congurations have been used through the
strength-to-weight ratio and provides additional corrosion resis- strength-based or fracture-based approaches to identify property
tance to the structure. Its ease of application results in little or changes in the bond strength of the FRP/concrete interface with
no trafc disruption. Several strengthening techniques, including respect to variable environmental conditions. These conditions
FRP plate bonding and column wrapping, have been widely applied include prolonged exposure to different chemicals, wetdry cycles,
in practice as a result of extensive study and ample experimental and freezethaw cycles, all of which may be expected during the
results on the mechanical behaviors of the systems [13]. For ex- service life of the bonded system. For a strength-based approach,
ural strengthening of reinforced concrete (RC) elements such as prediction of debonding generally involves calculation of stress
beams and slabs, FRP laminates in the form of rigid plates or ex- distribution at the interface between concrete and FRP, assuming
ible sheets are externally bonded to the tension faces of the ele- that the materials remain linearly elastic up to the onset of failure.
ments using epoxy adhesive as in dry or wet lay-up processes. This can be performed using either approximate closed-form solu-
The current design guidelines are provided by the ACI Committee tions or numerical methods. Some strength-based models incorpo-
440 [4], which employs design principles similar to that of typical rate known failure criteria, such as MohrCoulomb, to determine
steel reinforced concrete beams. Nonetheless, premature failure by the critical stress state, and hence the maximum load at debond-
debonding of the concrete/epoxy/FRP bond system may occur, ing. A drawback of these models is that they depend on geometric
parameters that are often highly system-dependent. In addition,
Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 617 715 4204.
debonding in FRP-strengthened beams can be viewed as a local
failure that involves initiation and subsequent propagation of
E-mail addresses: ctuakta@mit.edu (C. Tuakta), obuyuk@mit.edu (O.
Bykztrk). crack. As such, fracture mechanics appears to be a more promising
1
Tel.: +1 617 253 7186. method in predicting debonding failure.
1359-8368/$ - see front matter 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.compositesb.2010.11.002
Author's personal copy
For the fracture-based approach, generally, the degradation represent real service conditions. These include continuous mois-
parameter is the fracture toughness, or the critical energy release ture ingress, moisture reversal, and moisture cyclic condition, from
rate, corresponding to different levels of environmental exposure. which a prediction can be made of the life-cycle of FRP-concrete
The interface fracture toughness is considered as the debonding bonded joint in a FRP-strengthened RC beam. Corresponding mate-
resistance of a multi-layer material system regardless of the struc- rial characterization under continuous moisture ingress, moisture
tural system in consideration. Fracture characterization of the reversal, and moisture cyclic condition was also performed to ob-
durability of glass and carbon FRP bonded concrete subjected to tain moisture-affected material properties, which were used in
continuous fresh water and synthetic seawater (or salt water) the calculation of the tri-layer fracture toughness. The paper is or-
has been performed by means of a peel test [9,10]. It was con- ganized as follows. First, the tri-layer fracture toughness and the
cluded from the tests that short-term exposure to water or seawa- conguration of the fracture specimens are discussed. The method-
ter had little effect on mode I fracture toughness while reducing ology of the three types of test is then explained, followed by the
mode II fracture toughness signicantly. Elevated temperature corresponding experimental results and discussions.
generally causes more bond degradation during long-term envi-
ronmental exposure in both modes I and II fracture [11]. Moisture
does not only affect the adhesive bond of the bonded system in ser- 3. Quantication of bond strength
vice, but also during the application of FRP on concrete surface.
Tests on CFRP bonded to concrete with initially damp surface using In this study, the bond strength of FRP/concrete interface is
a modied cantilever beam indicated reduction in bond strength characterized by fracture toughness. This characterization is suit-
when compared to specimens with initially dry concrete surface able to studying the debonding problem, which can be considered
[12]. Since the failure under effect of moisture generally occurs as a local failure. During failure initiation at an existing defect, such
by either concrete delamination or concreteepoxy interface sepa- as an unbonded region at the concrete/epoxy interface, both mode
ration, some studies have been devoted to determining the extent I (opening) and mode II (shearing) driving forces may exist,
of degradation in bi-material systems. Results from the fracture depending on location of the defect. Therefore, it is essential to
tests on bi-material specimens have shown that the interface be- be able to quantify the bond strength of the interface in terms of
tween concrete and epoxy become weakened due to moisture both failure modes. A tri-layer fracture toughness model special-
exposure [13]. Beside the reduction in fracture toughness, a shift ized for opening and shearing modes is a suitable quantifying tool
in bond failure mode has been observed for both glass and carbon in this case.
FRP bonded concrete systems before and after moisture condition-
ing. Control specimens usually exhibited a conventional concrete
fracture type of failure, while moisture-conditioned specimens
3.1. Tri-layer fracture toughness model
failed mostly at the epoxy/FRP interface or the epoxy/concrete
interface [11]. This indicates that an interface weakening mecha-
Concrete/FRP bond joints, such as those in FRP-strengthened
nism is activated by the presence of water molecules in the bond.
concrete structural members, can be idealized as a three-layered
In real-life applications, FRP-strengthened structural members are
material system consisting of concrete, epoxy and FRP. In such a
exposed to humidity uctuation due to seasonal rainfall or snow-
system, crack can propagate in ve regionsbulk concrete, FRP
fall. In order to predict their service life, a database of degradation
sheet, bulk epoxy, the interface between concrete and epoxy, and
in concrete/FRP bond joints caused by moisture cyclic condition is
the interface between epoxy and FRP (Fig. 1). Using the energy con-
required. Tests on modied double cantilever beams after freeze
siderations, the energy release rate can be computed from the dif-
thaw and wetdry cycles have shown marked reduction in mode
ference in the strain energy of the cracked body (far behind the
I fracture toughness of FRP/concrete bond [14]. Nonetheless, it is
crack tip) and that of the intact body (far ahead of the crack tip).
still not clear as to how the duration of intermediate wet condition
The detailed derivation of the tri-layer fracture toughness is given
and the number of wetdry cycles would affect the degradation of
in [15]. The expression of the energy release rate contains geomet-
both modes I and II fracture toughness of such a bonded system.
ric and material information of all the three material layers. To ob-
tain the fracture toughness of the system from the experiment,
2. Research objective and approach congurations of the peel and shear fracture specimens are chosen
such that they represent possible loading cases found in a full-
The objective of this research is to understand debonding mech- sized FRP-strengthened concrete beam as shown in Fig. 2a. The
anisms and investigate the durability of FRP-strengthened systems opening and shearing loading cases are represented by the peel
under moisture conditions using the fracture-based approach. Deg- and shear specimens as shown in Fig. 2b. To compute the interface
radation of bond strength is quantied by the tri-layer fracture fracture toughness of the FRP/concrete bond system, critical loads
toughness [15]. The peel and shear fracture characterization is ex- obtained from the debonding tests and the material properties
tended to various types of moisture conditioning scenarios that obtained from the material characterization are used.
Fig. 2. (a) Idealization of loading state in FRP in the vicinity of a crack and (b) peel and shear fracture specimens for opening and shearing mode of loading.
3.2. Peel and shear fracture specimens and test setup the loading frame serving as a reference point for measuring
the displacement of the CFRP plate. As the specimen was pulled
The effect of continuous moisture ingress and its reversibility upward at 1 mm/min along the bond line direction, loads were
was investigated quantitatively and qualitatively by means of peel applied on the CFRP and the displacements were recorded from
and shear fracture tests. Fig. 3a and b shows the dimensions of the a 50 kN load cell and the LVDT, respectively. The effects of con-
peel and shear specimens, respectively. The CFRP plate in both tinuous moisture uptake or residual debonding resistance were
specimens is 1.28 mm thick and made of unidirectional carbon quantied by the tri-layer fracture toughness. Specimens were
bers. Special consideration is given to shear fracture to make sure conditioned in a moisture environment at 23 C using water tanks,
that the bond line satises the requirement for development and at 50 C using an environmental chamber before testing. It was
length (i.e. stress in the FRP plate varies from maximum value at determined from the diffusion simulation that in order to have dis-
pulled end to zero at the other end.) A pneumatic needle scaler tinguishable levels of moisture in the bond line, peel and shear
was used to roughen the concrete surface to obtain optimal bond- specimens should be conditioned for 2, 4, 6, and 8 weeks. The
ing property through mechanical interlocking. Possible dust and loaddisplacement behavior and debonding modes were observed
debris resulted from surface roughening were removed by means and correlated with the moisture level obtained from the nite ele-
of compressed air. Before applying the CFRP plates and the epoxy, ment diffusion simulation.
the surfaces of the CFRP and the concrete were cleaned with
methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) to ensure proper adhesive bonding sur- 4. Experimental investigation
face. The bond thickness was kept to be 1 mm uniformly over the
bond region. 4.1. Material characterization
For the peel fracture test, the specimens were placed horizon-
tally in the loading frame and constrained from any movement In order to compute the interface fracture toughness, the
by alignment screws and the end plate (Fig. 4a). These specimens mechanical properties of concrete, epoxy, and CFRP, as affected
were then pulled vertically at the end of the CFRP plate with a by moisture, are required. For this study, concrete was carefully
displacement rate of 2 mm/min. Loads applied on CFRP and dis- produced according to ASTM C33 grading standard. The maximum
placements were recorded from a 2.2 kN load cell and machine aggregate size in concrete was limited to 10 mm, so that the com-
crosshead, respectively. For the shear fracture test, a plexi-glass pressive specimens are small enough to be placed in an environ-
was attached on top of the CFRP plate with the side facing an LVDT mental chamber for moisture conditioning. A commercial 2-part
located near the tip of initial crack (Fig. 4b). The LVDT was xed on epoxy was selected as a representative epoxy commonly used in
practice. All epoxy specimens were produced according to the and the saturated moisture content, which are experimentally
manufacturers guidelines. determined. Ten sorption specimens made of concrete and epoxy
The rst part of material characterization was to determine the were weighed after different conditioning durations. The differ-
effect of moisture (continuous moisture ingress, moisture reversal, ence between the initial weight and the weight after conditioning
and cyclic moisture conditioning) on the elastic moduli and the represents the mass of moisture uptake into the material.
strengths of the constituent materials, namely concrete and epoxy. Conditioning durations for diffusion test were determined to be
The compression specimens of plain concrete were fabricated 0, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 14, 28, 56, 84, 140 and 280 days to obtain the
according to ASTM C39 as shown in Fig. 5a, and the tensile epoxy time-dependent curves of moisture uptake, which were used for
specimens were fabricated according to ASTM D638 as shown in the determination of diffusion coefcients. These results were
Fig. 5b. Both concrete and epoxy specimens were conditioned at extrapolated to longer durations by assuming a diffusion behavior
predetermined durations under 23 C and 50 C, which were simi- of Fickian type [17]. The diffusion coefcient of the three constitu-
lar to those used to condition peel and shear fracture specimens. ents materials are listed in Table 1 [18]. Among the three materials,
However, tensile test was not conducted on the CFRP because it concrete is characterized by higher diffusion coefcients because
has been shown that its mechanical properties in the ber direc- of its higher porosity. These parameters were later used in a nite
tion do not signicantly vary under moisture condition [16]. element program to simulate moisture diffusion in the fracture
Youngs modulus of CFRP as reported by the manufacturer is specimens.
165 GPa, which was used throughout this study. The effects of each
moisture condition on the individual material property will be dis-
cussed in the corresponding sections. Table 1
Diffusion coefcients of concrete, CFRP, and epoxy.
The second part of material characterization was to determine
the diffusion coefcient and solubility of all constituent materials Material Temperature (C) Diffusivity (1011 m2/s) Solubility (wt.%)
from gravimetric sorption test (ASTM D570) using specimens Concrete 23 3.24 7.71
shown in Fig. 5c. Diffusion coefcient is dened as the rate at 50 3.24 7.76
which a diffusion process takes place [17]. For a given duration, CFRP 23 0.068 0.34
50 0.081 0.9
higher value diffusion coefcient results in a faster diffusion pro-
Epoxy 23 0.023 2.58
cess. Its value can be determined from the slope of moisture mass 50 0.048 5.42
uptake curve, the moisture content at any given point in time,
Fig. 5. (a) Concrete compressive specimen conguration, (b) epoxy tensile specimen conguration and (c) moisture sorption test specimen for concrete and epoxy.
Author's personal copy
4.2.3. Peel and shear fracture toughness under continuous moisture Fig. 10. Effect of moisture on bond strength of peel (a) and shear (b) fracture
ingress specimens.
Fig. 10a and b show the effect of moisture on the peel and shear
fracture toughness, respectively. The mechanical properties of the
constituent materials were obtained from the material character- 4.3. Effect of cyclic moisture conditioning
ization discussed previously. The values of fracture toughness
shown in the gures are the average values from three specimens The difference between continuous moisture ingress and mois-
in each condition group. Signicant reduction in facture toughness ture reversal (and moisture cyclic condition) is that in the former,
after moisture conditioning in both peel and shear fracture speci- specimens are tested as they are still wet, while in the later, spec-
mens indicated that moisture had detrimental effect on the imens are allowed to dry before being tested. Therefore, a wetdry
strength of the bond system. More than 50% of the initial bond cycle involves submersion of a specimen for a period of time, fol-
strength is reduced by the exposure to moisture, even after an ini- lowed by drying of the specimen. It is stated in the literature that
tial duration of 2 weeks. For both peel and shear fracture speci- water can be present in epoxy and at the interface as equilibrium
mens, there was a shift in the failure mode from concrete water and excess water [22]. The former is associated with the irre-
delamination in dry specimens, to epoxy/concrete interface sepa- versible material degradation including hydrolysis or microcrack-
ration in wet specimens, at both room and high temperatures ing, while the later with reversible degradation, such as swelling
(Fig. 11). This indicates the weakening of the interface due to the stress and plasticization in epoxy. Any irreversible effect will be
presence of moisture. It is observed from Fig. 10 that the fracture shown by comparing the residual fracture toughness from the
toughness reaches an asymptotic value after 4 weeks for peel frac- moisture reversal and cyclic moisture condition tests with that
ture specimens and less than 2 weeks for shear fracture specimens. from continuous moisture ingress. Drying duration has been deter-
These bond strength values were used as reference values when mined by observing weight change of the bulk epoxy coupons and
investigating the effect of moisture reversal and moisture cyclic the peel/shear fracture specimens conditioned for various periods
condition. of time. For this part of the study, dry condition is dened as the
duration after which small change in weight is registered in such
specimens. It has been found that at least 4 days is required for
Table 2
Moisture content (wt.%) at the interface in peel and shear fracture the specimens to attain small weight change (less than 0.05%).
specimens from nite element simulation of moisture diffusion.
Duration (weeks) Moisture content (%) 4.3.1. Peel and shear fracture toughness under moisture reversal
23 C 50 C Peel and shear fracture specimens were conditioned under the
2 0.41 0.87 moisture environment for 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 weeks at 23 C and
4 0.77 1.63 50 C. Before testing, the specimens were left to dry for 4 days in
6 1.01 2.14 order to investigate any irreversible effect of moisture on the bond
8 1.29 2.71
strength. Characterization of plain concrete and the epoxy under
10 1.41 3.26
moisture reversal were also conducted by means of compressive
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Fig. 11. Failure mode shift in peel and shear fracture specimens: (a) thin layer of concrete delamination and (b) interface separation.
Fig. 14. Comparison between moisture-affected fracture toughness and residual fracture toughness for peel fracture test at room (a) and elevated temperature (b).
Fig. 15. Comparison between moisture-affected fracture toughness and residual fracture toughness for shear fracture test at room (a) and elevated temperature (b).
4 days before being tested using the same test congurations as in conditioning duration affect the residual bond strength. For each
Fig. 3. Corresponding material characterization was also conducted intermediate duration, reduction in residual interface fracture
for plain concrete and the epoxy to obtain mechanical properties as toughness as the number of wetdry cycles increases is observable
functions of durations and cycles, which were used in calculating in both peel and shear fracture specimens. Longer intermediate
the tri-layer fracture toughness. Similar to the case of moisture conditioning duration results in smaller residual strength. In most
reversal condition, the properties of the concrete are not affected cases, higher temperature seems to accelerate the deterioration
signicantly by the wetdry cycles. On the other hand, Youngs process, resulting in further reduction in residual bond strength.
modulus of the epoxy at both temperatures decreased for This is possibly due to higher moisture uptake in between each
longer period of intermediate conditioning (and hence higher wetdry cycle. Similar to moisture reversal, higher residual
intermediate moisture content). This effect is shown by the plots strength is also associated with more concrete debris left on the
in Fig. 17. fracture surface of the peel and shear fracture specimens. Speci-
Figs. 18 and 19 show the effect of wetdry cycles on the residual mens that were conditioned for shorter duration and fewer wet
interface fracture toughness in the peel and shear fracture speci- dry cycles appeared to have more concrete debris left on the epoxy
mens. Both the number of wetdry cycles and the intermediate (Fig. 20).
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5. Conclusion
Fig. 18. Effect of number of wetdry cycles on the residual fracture toughness of peel specimens.
Fig. 19. Effect of number of wetdry cycles on the residual fracture toughness of shear specimens.
Author's personal copy
Fig. 20. Varying degrees of residual concrete debris on epoxy surface in fracture specimens under wetdry cycles (peel specimens at room temperature are shown).
Acknowledgements [10] Karbhari VM, Engineer M, Eckel II DA. On the durability of composite
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This research was supported by the National Science Founda- [11] Au C, Buyukozturk O. Peel and shear fracture characterization of debonding in
tion (NSF) CMS Grant No. 0510797. The authors are grateful to FRP plated concrete affected by moisture. J Compos Construct
2006;10(1):3547.
the program manager, Dr. Lawrence C. Bank, for his interest and [12] Wan B, Petrou MF, Harries KA. The effects of the presence of water on the
support for this work. durability of bond between CFRP and concrete. J Reinf Plast Compos
2006;25(8):87590.
[13] Frigione M, Aiello MA, Naddeo C. Water effect on the bond strength of
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