Abstract
In order to investigate the effects of strengthening of steel plates by bonding Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP), analytical studies were conducted. In this study, either a continuous steel plate or two steel plates butted each other were strengthened, or retrofitted by bonding CFRP strips, and loaded in tension. The influences of the thickness of steel plates and the number of layers of CFRP strips on the stress reduction and simulated crack opening behaviorwere investigated by conducting parametric finite element analyses. The analytical results indicated that the shear stress in the adhesive layer varied as the thickness of the steel plates increased for the specimens having the same strengthening ratio, Sr. In addition, approximately Sr=1.2 were recommended for retrofitting steel plates to effectively use the adhesive strength, i.e., adhesives both at the end of the CFRP and at the simulated crack yield simultaneously.
