Use of CFRP Overlays to Repair Fatigue Damage in Steel Plates under Tension Loading
Publication: Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 18, Issue 4
Abstract
Fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) overlays have been successfully used in the aerospace industry to repair fatigue damage in aluminum plates. With this success there is potential for use of similar FRP overlays to repair fatigue damage in aging steel bridge structures. This study investigated the effectiveness of repairing fatigue damage in steel plate with adhesively bonded carbon fiber–reinforced polymer (CFRP) overlays. A total of 15 steel plate specimens with preexisting fatigue cracks were repaired with varying thicknesses of CFRP overlays to evaluate the effect of the ratio of axial stiffness of the composite to that of the underlying steel, the axial stiffness ratio (SR), on increased fatigue life and decreased applied stress. The results showed that increasing the axial stiffness ratio from 0 to 0.4 could increase the fatigue life by a factor of 10 for the most extreme conditions, and with an optimal axial stiffness ratio infinite fatigue life may be reached. Fatigue life of the steel specimens in this study was found to be dependent on both axial stiffness and applied stress range. Results from finite-element analyses validated the use of axial stiffness as a design parameter and correlated to the experimental results discussed.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
References
AASHTO. (2010). LRFD bridge design specifications, 5th Ed., Washington, DC.
ABAQUS 6.8.2 [Computer software]. Providence, RI, Dassault Systèmes.
Alemdar, F. (2011). “Repair of bridge steel girders damaged by distortion-induced fatigue.” Ph.D. thesis, Dept. of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.
ASTM. (2008). “Standard test method for tensile properties of polymer matrix composite materials.” ASTM D3039/D3039M-08, West Conshohocken, PA.
Barsom, J. M., and Rolfe, S. T. (1999). “Fatigue and fracture behavior of welded components.” Fracture and Fatigue Control in Structures, 3rd Ed., ASTM, West Conshohocken, PA, 35–53.
Bocciarelli, M., Colombi, P., Fava, G., and Poggi, C. (2009). “Fatigue performance of tensile steel members strengthened with CFRP plates.” Compos. Struct., 87(4), 334–343.
Crain, J. (2010). “Fatigue enhancement of undersized, drilled crack-stop holes.” M.S. thesis, Dept. of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.
Gangel, R., (2012). “Use of CFRP overlays to repair fatigue damage in steel bridge girders and components.” M.S. Thesis, Dept. of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.
Hartman, A., Hassel, H., Adams, C., Bennett, C., Matamoros, A., and Rolfe, S. (2010). “Effects of lateral bracing placement and skew on distortion-induced fatigue in steel bridges.”, Transportation Research Board, 62–68.
Hassel, H. L. (2011). “An analytical evaluation of distortion-induced fatigue in steel bridges.” M.S. thesis, Dept. of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering, Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS.
Kaan, B. N., Alemdar, F., Bennett, C. R., Matamoros, A., Barrett-Gonzalez, R., and Rolfe, S. (2012). “Fatigue enhancement of welded details in steel bridges using CFRP overlay elements.” J. Compos. Constr., 138–149.
Lee, W. Y., and Lee, J. J. (2004). “Successive 3D FE analysis technique for characterization of fatigue crack growth behavior in composite-repaired aluminum plate.” Compos. Struct., 66(1–4), 513–520.
Liu, H. B., Al-Mahaidi, R., and Zhao, X. L. (2009a). “Experimental study of fatigue crack growth behaviour in adhesively reinforced steel structures.” Compos. Struct., 90(1), 12–20.
Liu, H. B., Xiao, Z. G., Zhao, X. L., and Al-Mahaidi, R. (2009b). “Prediction of fatigue life for CFRP-strengthened steel plates.” Thin-Walled Struct., 47(10), 1069–1077.
Mall, S., and Conley, D. S. (2009). “Modeling and validation of composite patch repair to cracked thick and thin metallic panels.” Compos., Part A, 40(9), 1331–1339.
Marquis, G., and Kahonen, A. (1995). “Fatigue testing and analysis using the hot spot method.”, Technical Research Centre of Finland, 37.
Naboulsi, S., and Mall, S. (1996). “Modeling of a cracked metallic structure with bonded composite patch using the three layer technique.” Compos. Struct., 35(3), 295–308.
Roddis, W. M., and Zhao, Y. (2001). “Out-of-Plane Fatigue Cracking in Welded Steel Bridges: Why it happened and how it will be reapired.” Weld. Inovation, 18(2), 2–7.
Roy, M., Lang, C., and May, I. (2009). “Modelling composite repairs to cracked metal structures.” Proc., Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE)-Structures and Buildings, 162(2), 107–113.
Sabelkin, V., Mall, S., and Avram, J. B. (2006). “Fatigue crack growth analysis of stiffened cracked panel repaired with bonded composite patch.” Eng. Fract. Mech., 73(11), 1553–1567.
Schubbe, J. J., and Mall, S. (1999a). “Modeling of cracked thick metallic structure with bonded composite patch repair using three-layer technique.” Compos. Struct., 45(3), 185–193.
Schubbe, J. J., and Mall, S. (1999b). “Investigation of a cracked thick aluminum panel repaired with a bonded composite patch.” Eng. Fract. Mech., 63(3), 305–323.
Tavakkolizadeh, M., and Saadatmanesh, H. (2003). “Fatigue strength of steel girders strengthened with carbon fiber reinforced polymer patch.” J. Struct. Eng., 186–196.
Umamaheswar, T. V. R. S., and Singh, R. (1999). “Modelling of a patch repair to a thin cracked sheet.” Eng. Fract. Mech., 62(2), 267–289.
Wang, Q. Y., Li, T., and Ning, J. X. (2002). “Fatigue crack growth behavior of bonded composite repairs.” Third Int. Conf. on Experimental Mechanics, Proc. of SPIE, 4537.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 18 • Issue 4 • August 2014
Copyright
© 2013 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jun 19, 2012
Accepted: Feb 4, 2013
Published online: Feb 6, 2013
Discussion open until: May 2, 2014
Published in print: Aug 1, 2014
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.