Effective of elastic and inelastic zone on behavior of glass fiber reinforced polymer splice sleeve

This paper investigates the significant factors in design of splice sleeve with composite material. Factors such as position of interlocking mechanism, elastic and inelastic length of sleeve considerably affect bond strength of the bar coupling system. To assess these vital factors, an experimental study was conducted on thirty-two glass fibers reinforced polymer (GFRP) splice sleeves in tension. The specimens were prepared in eight batches with variation in sleeve length, number of GFRP layers, spliced steel bar diameter, and position of interlocking mechanism. The results showed that increasing the confinement pressure in elastic length of sleeve caused reduction in bond strength. Specific equations using the variables of this study were developed to predict bond strength of GFRP splice sleeve.