Behaviour of steel beams retrofitted with anchored carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer strips

Abstract

Steel bridge beams can be damaged due to increased traffic loads and environmental impacts. An experimental study on the use of bonded and mechanically anchored carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) strips was undertaken to assess the retrofitting of such steel beams. The number of mechanical anchors used in the ends of the bonded strips was varied from zero to eight. The steel beam samples were tested under four-point loading. Loading was applied as an increasingly high static load and a low repetitive fatigue load. The load-displacement behaviour under the effects of static and fatigue loading and the strain distributions along the strips were measured and interpreted. The results showed that retrofitting cracked steel beams with CFRP strips is an effective method. In addition, retrofitting with anchored strips increased the performance of cracked beams under the effects of both static and fatigue loading.