BOND BEHAVIOR OF CFRP STRENGTHENED STEEL BRIDGES AND STRUCTURES

Abstract

Recent research has focused on strengthening steel structures using FRP materials. The bond behavior of steel structures strengthened with FRP materials is different than that of concrete structures. Additionally, very high bond stresses are likely to occur for most strengthening applications due to the amount of strengthening required for steel structures. In this paper, surface preparation methods and means of preventing galvanic corrosion are discussed as well as current methods for determining bond stresses and their use for design. These methods are compared to experimental results, showing good agreement, and the direction of future work in this area is proposed.