Shear strengthening of steel plates using small-diameter CFRP strands

This paper presents the results of a comprehensive research program, including experimental and analytical studies, to examine the use of small-diameter CFRP strands for shear strengthening of steel structures and bridges. The experimental program examined the effectiveness of the proposed strengthening system to increase the shear capacity of steel plates subjected to pure shear stresses using a unique test set up. A nonlinear finite element analysis (FEA), calibrated the experimental results, was used to study parameters which were not included in the experiments. Research findings indicated that the proposed system is effective for shear strengthening of steel structures and eliminated the typical debonding failure commonly observed by CFRP laminates.