Shear-bond behavior of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) rods and sheets

The use of external reinforcement has gained an increasingly major position due to the adjustment in earthquake standards, mandating a significant improvement in the section's moment capacity. Studies on the behavior and enhancement contributed by FRP sheets demonstrated that its effectiveness was a direct function of the shear-bond strength. A prominent contributing factor was the response of the interface between the sheets and the epoxy resin, and the interface between the epoxy resin to the concrete surface. Recently, FRP rods were produced. These rods which are 8 and 10 millimeters in diameter offer ease in use, and simplicity in the application procedure. This study looked into the shear-bond behavior of FRP rods as compared to sheets. Direct tensile stresses were applied to test the shear-bond between the sheets and rods, attached to a 35 MPa concrete surface. The failure behavior of the bond was also monitored. Additionally, the effectiveness of the embedded depth of the FRP rods relative to the concrete surface was also analyzed.