Experimental and numerical investigation on the mechanical performance of modified composite anchors for CFRP tendons

A modified composite anchor was developed and its anchoring performance for the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) tendon was investigated experimentally and numerically in the present study. Compared to traditional composite anchors, the improved anchor has an added nut at wedge clamping end. Tensile test results show that for ribbed CFRP tendon with 10 mm diameter, the maximum tensile load increased from 20.3 kN of traditional anchor without nut to 108.8 kN of modified anchor with nut, and anchorage efficiency of the modified anchor improved to 95.5%. The failure mode of anchor changed from wedge slippage without nut to CFRP tendon fiber rupture with nut. A numerical model for modified anchor was established using ABAQUS. The simulation outcomes from this model agree well with the experimental results, demonstrating the feasibility and effectiveness of the approach. Utilizing numerical model, calculations are conducted for the four key parameters of composite anchoring system, i.e., the anchor ring thickness, the wedge clamping inclination angle, the angle difference (=) between (the anchor ring inclination angle) and, and the distance betweenwedge tip and end of the anchor ring. The results show that, and all have a significant influence on the performance of anchor yet δ has a small impact. The recommended optimized parameters for practical engineering applications are δ = 25 mm ~ 30 mm, =6° ~ 9°, =0.1° ~ 0.3°, and =10 mm ~ 20 mm. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2025.