Wedge-shaped fracturing in the pull out of FRP stiffeners from quasi-brittle substrates

Fiber-Reinforced-Polymer (FRP) strips can be glued to the surface of concrete or masonry structures to improve their strength. Pull-out tests on FRP bonds have shown a progressive failure of the adhesive joint involving early-stage cracking parallel to the axis of the FRP stiffener, and an inclined crack initiating at the free end of the stiffener and extending into the quasi-brittle substrate in the latest stage. The subsurface crack produces a characteristic wedge-shaped spall. There is no consensus on the reasons for the transition from cracking along the bond to cracking within the substrate. Therefore a Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics model problem is presented here that accounts for and provides improved understanding of the formation of the subsurface crack. The boundary value problem is solved analytically using the distributed dislocation technique. Competition between crack extension along the adhesive joint and into the substrate is quantified using a quantized crack propagation criterion, whereby the crack does not advance in infinitesimal continuous increments, but instead in finite steps of length comparable to the characteristic dimensions of the material microstructure. The model predicts results that are in good agreement with experimental evidence.     

考虑应变率效应的FRP-混凝土界面正拉黏结性能研究

为揭示FRP-混凝土界面正拉黏结性能的应变率效应, 对60个标准试件进行快速荷载下的正拉试验, 研究了加载速率、FRP种类及混凝土强度等级3个参数对FRP-混凝土界面正拉黏结强度的影响规律. 在欧洲规范建议的幂函数模型基础上, 通过回归拟合建立了考虑应变率效应的正拉黏结强度预测模型, 并验证其可靠性. 结果表明: 正拉黏结强度随着加载速率的增大而提高; 在中高加载速率时, 加载速率对正拉黏结强度的影响有减弱趋势; 黏贴CFRP的试件正拉黏结强度明显高于黏贴BFRP的试件; 正拉黏结强度随着混凝土强度等级的提高而提高.     

Stability analysis of CFRP-wrapped concrete columns strengthened with external longitudinal CFRP sheets

The external confinement by CFRP wrappings is a very efficient method to increase the load-carrying capacity of round concrete columns. Nevertheless, the serviceability of such columns under loads exceeding the strength of unconfined concrete is limited by different factors. One of them is the reduced stability of the columns due to the significantly reduced tangent elastic modulus inactive loading. To increase the critical load of buckling instability of concrete columns, an additional longitudinal composite reinforcement can be used. In this paper, the stability and strength of concrete columns confined by circumferential wrappings and strengthened with a longitudinal external CFRP reinforcement are studied. Plain and confined columns of length 300 and 1500 mm were tested. Theoretical predictions show that the additional longitudinal reinforcement is efficient in improving the stability of confined columns in the region of moderate slenderness. The prediction for the ultimate strength and stability of the columns coincides rather well with experimental results. __________ Translated from Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 295–308, May–June, 2005.     

Topological quantization of disclination points in three—dimensional liquid crystals

Using the φ-mapping method and topological current theory, we study the inner structure of disclination points in three-dimensional liquid crystals. By introducing the strength density and the topological current of many disclination points, it is pointed out that the disclination points are determined by the singularities of the general director field and they are topologically quantized by the Hopf indices and Brouwer degrees.     

包覆式爆炸成型复合侵彻体成型规律研究

 包覆式爆炸成型复合侵彻体是通过炸药爆炸驱动金属药型罩包覆内核活性材料而形成的一种新型高效毁伤元。为了设计带包覆物的小长径比聚能装药结构,采用AUTODYN非线性动力学分析软件,分析了主要结构参数对包覆效果的影响规律,得到了能够实现复合侵彻体爆炸包覆的较优结构。通过脉冲X光拍摄了具有较优结构的复合侵彻体成型过程,试验结果与仿真结果符合较好,验证了仿真计算的可信性。     

Prestressed FRP and interface slip effect on interfacial stresses analysis: the new FRP sheets rigidity model

This paper presents an improved bi-material beam theory with adhesive interface and the new prestressed-fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) – model, which has been applied to the study the problem of interfacial stresses. This work explicitly considers the interfacial slip effect on the structural performance by including both the effect of adherend shear deformations and the fiber volume fraction of the prestressed laminates. This new method needs only one differential equation to determine both shear and normal interfacial stress, which is one aspect that has not been taken into account by the previous studies in the literature. A parametrical study is carried out to show the effects of some design variables, e.g., stiffness and thickness of adhesive layer and FRP plate.     

Copolymers Containing Phosphorescent Iridium(III) Complexes Obtained by Free and Controlled Radical Polymerization Techniques

A methacrylate‐functionalized phosphorescent Ir(III)‐complex has been synthesized, characterized, and applied as a monomer in radical copolymerizations. Together with methyl methacrylate, the complex has been copolymerized under free radical polymerization conditions. Aiming for host‐guest‐systems, applicable e.g. in organic light emitting devices (OLEDs), the complex was further copolymerized with a methacrylate‐functionalized carbazole derivative using the atom transfer radical polymerization technique. Applying gel permeation chromatography, in combination with a photodiode array detector, could clearly prove the formation of the copolymers. The optical properties of the photoactive monomers as well as the copolymers were investigated by absorption and emission spectroscopy (in solution). For the carbazole‐copolymer, the emission originates almost exclusively from the complex. This provides evidence of an efficient intrachain energy transfer, which makes the system an interesting candidate for potential OLED applications.

     

A model for predicting the shear bearing capacity of FRP-strengthened beams

The shear failure of reinforced concrete beams needs more attention than the bending failure since no or only small warning precedes the failure. For this reason, it is of utmost importance to understand the shear bearing capacity and also to be able to undertake significant rehabilitation work if necessary. In this paper, a design model for the shear strengthening of concrete beams by using fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) is presented, and the limitations of the truss model analogy are highlighted. The fracture mechanics approach is used in analyzing the bond behavior between the FRP composites and concrete. The fracture energy of concrete and the axial rigidity of the FRP are considered to be the most important parameters. The effective strain in the FRP when the debonding occurs is determined. The limitations of the anchorage length over the cross section are analyzed. A simple iterative design method for the shear debonding is finally proposed. Russian translation published in Mekhanika Kompozitnykh Materialov, Vol. 44, No. 3, pp. 357–372, May–June, 2008.     

Functionalization of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and their application for selective isolation of acidic proteins

A micro-column packed with PDDA-wrapped MWNTs in sequential injection system facilitates selective sorption of acidic protein species. Proteins adsorbed onto the PDDA-MWNT composites are afterwards collected by elution with a citrate buffer as stripping reagent. With a sample loading volume of 2.0 mL and an eluent volume of 200 microL, a retention efficiency of 100% and a recovery of 90% are achieved for BSA in the range 6-120 microg, resulting in an enrichment factor of 14. A sampling frequency of 15 h(-1) is achieved, along with a precision of 4.5% at 25 microg x mL(-1) BSA. The practical applicability of this system is demonstrated by processing human whole blood for successive isolation of acidic proteins.