Evaluation of the transfer length of prestressed near surface mounted CFRP rods in concrete

The transfer length of a prestressed near surface mounted (NSM) fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) rod is the distance over which the rod must be bonded to the epoxy to develop the prestressing force in the rod. The transfer length is intended to provide bond integrity for the strengthened concrete member. This paper presents experimental results and an empirical equation to estimate the transfer length of prestressed NSM Carbon FRP (CFRP) rod in concrete beams. Twenty-two reinforced concrete specimens were strengthened with NSM CFRP rods. Two types of CFRP rods were used: spirally wound and sand blasted rods. Four prestressing levels were used: 40%, 45%, 50% and 60% of the tensile strength of the CFRP rod. The strain behavior in the CFRP rod was monitored by gauges mounted on the CFRP rod along the length of the beam. The test results showed that the transfer length of the prestressed NSM CFRP rod was about 35 times the diameter of the CFRP rod. The maximum bond stress of the CFRP rod in epoxy was found to range from 11 to 16 MPa for the sand blasted rods and from 12 to 23 MPa for the spirally wound rods. An empirical expression based on curve fitting of the measured data was proposed to predict the prestressing stress in the CFRP rod along the length of the beam.