Effect of CFRP properties, on the bond characteristics between steel and CFRP laminate under quasi-static loading

• Studying the bond properties between CFRP laminates and steel joints experimentally.
• The effect of CFRP properties on this bond.
• The capability of finite element method to model and analyse these joints.

Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs) have been widely used in the last few decades. The bond between steel members and CFRP is the main issue in rehabilitation. Rehabilitation is considered when structures have cracks or damage. The CFRP section that needs to be used in rehabilitation depends on the damage amount or crack thickness. This paper reports the experimental and numerical effects of CFRP properties and sections on the bond between CFRP laminate and steel members under quasi-static loading. Three CFRP moduli (low CFRP modulus, normal CFRP modulus and ultra-high CFRP modulus) and two CFRP sections (20 × 1.4 mm and 10 × 1.4 mm) were used in this research. The results show that small CFRP sections are very sensitive to evaluate the bond properties between CFRP and steel, and the ultra-high CFRP modulus with low tensile strength has significant effects on the bond between CFRP and steel.