DESIGN OF STEP LENGTH FOR MULTI-LAYERED CFRP BONDED STEEL PLATE BASED ON CONVERGENCE OF ENERGY RELEASE RATE

Abstract

 Several design methods have been proposed for bonding repair and reinforcement using carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP). When the multi-layered CFRP bonding repair, the steps are provided at the ends of CFRP to improve the peeling load. In the previous paper, the design of step length was theoretically provided with the required length for transmission of sectional force at each step. However, this design might be result in excessive bond length. In this study, the authors proposed a new step design method for CFRP bonded steel plates under uniaxial load using the convergence of energy release rate at the step-end. It was shown that the proposed method provided a shorter CFRP length for multi-layered CFRP bonding repair compared with conventional design.