Epoxy- and acrylic-bonded joints for strengthening lightweight steel girders

Several attempts have been made to introduce the adhesive bonding technique into steel construction, showing that this technique is promising and could replace traditional joining methods such as bolts, rivets and welding. Epoxy adhesive is used for structural joints more than acrylic due to its advanced properties such as its high capacity and its relatively good resistance to aging and environmental effects when compared with acrylic.
The following paper briefly shows the difference between the use of epoxy and acrylic adhesives when bonding steel plates to strengthen lightweight cold-formed galvanized steel girders. The thickness of the adhesive layers is 0.65 mm. Strengthened girders were tested experimentally at room temperature (20 °C) in 3-point bending tests and numerically investigated at -20 °C and 40 °C. The results show the efficiency of the bonded strengthening joints and that acrylic has an advantage in that it can absorb the deformations of the ductile steel without breaking.