The effect of bond end geometry on steel – FRP joint strength

Article describes experiments on the effect of steel – FRP bond end shaping on bond strength. The influence of changing the bond end geometry on behavior of axially loaded steel elements reinforced by CFRP double patch joints with varying overlap length was analyzed. Bond failure at steel-adhesive interface was dominant failure mode. The test results showed clearly that geometry change of the bond end of strengthening CFRP plate and adhesive in composite plate region can significantly increase bond capacity. Conclusions and plan of further works on CFRP strengthening of steel elements were described.