Effect of bond end shape on CFRP/steel joint strength

Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs) have been widely used in the last thirty years. The main issue in rehabilitation using CFRP, is the bond between steel member and CFRP composite. The impact of shaping the FRP composite bond end the joint load capacity is one of the issues on which attention is focused. Structure rehabilitation is considered when structures have damage, cracks or need raising the load-carrying capacity. The CFRP cross section that needs to be used for strengthening or rehabilitation is based on the size of the damage, crack thickness or missing cross-section necessary to transfer loads. This paper reports the experimental and numerical effects of CFRP bond end shape properties on the bond between CFRP laminate and steel members under quasi-static loading. Normal CFRP modulus, one CFRP section (20 x 1.4 mm) and eight bond end shapes 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 the proper bond end shape have significant effects on the bond between CFRP and steel.