ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS: Bonded Anchors, Embedment depth, Confinement, Failure mode, Concrete

cone failure, Cyclic loading, Shear force

Bonded anchors are being frequently adopted in diverse range of civil engineering applications
ranging from new construction as connections for composite construction to repairing and
retrofitting of old construction projects. They are also being used for anchoring equipment and
machines, piping systems in power plants, underground tunnels, industries, etc. in which it is very
much needed to verify their safety against earthquake loads and operating conditions of machinery.
Provisions for evaluating the ultimate capacity of chemical or bonded (adhesive) anchors have
been presented in international codes like ASTM E488, ACI 349, ETAG, etc. ACI 355.4M gives
standard tests for testing post qualification of anchors. However in many of these codes the
capacity of the anchors is underestimated very much. This is due to the fact that none of these
codes adopted modification factors for confinement of concrete in the form of reinforcement in
the existing structures. This reinforcement provides a confinement for the anchors and prevents
the cracks forming from propagating and thereby improving the tensile capacity of anchors upto
as much as 150% of the capacity without confinement. Also there is no information and not data
on the influence of confinement.

Hence, an experimental investigation to study the influence of confinement, embedment depth

under different types of loading and their combinations such as monotonic (tension), cyclic
(tension) and cyclic (tension) load with shear force is performed. For this investigation, a total of
twenty four concrete specimens were cast with different lateral confinement in terms of lateral
reinforcement. The anchors were post installed using special epoxy resin adhesives with different
embedment depths. The principle variables in this study are:

• Embedment depth = 100mm and 200mm

• Lateral reinforcement Confinement = 8mm diameter bars at 60mm, 80mm, 120mm c/c.
• Type of Loading = Monotonic and Cyclic Tension, Cyclic Tension with Shear force

The specimens were tested for different types of loading and load combinations. Their behavior
and modes of failure for all the specimens were studied and discussed in here. Also their behavior
under cyclic tensile loading as per ACI 355.4M-11 and the residual tensile capacity has been
studied. Also the effect of constant shear load in addition to the cyclic tensile loading in the
capacity of anchors is also discussed. It has been observed that the tensile capacity increases with
increase in the lateral confinement. Also different failure modes were observed for different
specimens depending on the parameters influencing the behaviour. Also the strain in the anchor
embedded in the concrete has been monitored with the help of a strain gauge mounted at the center
of the embedment depth on the anchors. Both the load vs. displacement response, and the load vs.
strain response was recorded using data logger connected to the LVDT kept at the loaded end of
anchor and strain gauge. On the basis of test results, improved suggestions have been given on the
behavior of anchors under monotonic and cyclic loading with constant shear force and also on the
anchors with confinement under all types of loading.