Abstract
This paper aimed to study the compatibility between E-glass of chemical resistance (ECR-glass) fibers and the polymer matrix and the influence of different matrix types on the durability performance of ECR-glass fiber–reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars in a marine concrete environment. Two types of matrices, epoxy and vinyl ester, were employed to fabricate GFRP bars, which were then subjected to accelerated exposure by immersion in a simulated seawater sea-sand concrete (SWSSC) pore solution. The degradation performance and damage mechanism were thoroughly investigated. The results indicated that hydrolytic degradation of the cured epoxy and vinyl matrices and subsequent chemical etching to glass fibers are the primary damage mechanisms affecting GFRP bars in the SWSSC environment. Based on these mechanisms, two damage models were proposed: a chemical etching-based model and a hydroxyl ion diffusion-based model. These models enabled the prediction of the residual tensile strength of GFRP bars in the SWSSC pore solution environment at different temperatures. The accuracy of the proposed models was validated through comparisons with experimental data.
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Data Availability Statement
All data, codes, and models that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (12072192) and the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (20ZR1429500).
Notation
The following symbols are used in this paper:
- A
- pre-exponential factor;
- A0
- pre-exponential factor at 25℃;
- A1, A2
- pre-exponential factors of the matrix and glass fiber, respectively;
- Bn
- coefficients in solving the partial differential equation;
- c
- concentration of hydroxyl ions;
- c0, cs
- OH− concentration at the initial time and on the bar surface;
- C≠
- activated complex during the chemical reaction;
- D
- diffusion coefficient;
- Deff
- effective diffusion coefficient;
- Ea
- active energy;
- ,
- active energies of the matrix and glass fiber, respectively;
- normalized chord modulus of vinyl-matrix GFRP bars;
- ft
- residual tensile strength;
- normalized tensile strength of vinyl-matrix GFRP bars;
- GE, GV
- epoxy-/vinyl-matrix GFRP bars;
- h
- Planck constant;
- J0
- zero-order Bessel functions of the first kind;
- k
- reaction rate constant;
- kB
- Boltzmann constant;
- Mf
- molar mass of the fiber;
- Mi
- molar mass of the ith constituent of glass fibers;
- N
- number of ester groups in a unit element of epoxy/vinyl matrix;
- P1, P2
- first and second reaction products, respectively;
- P(r, θ)
- random position in the cross section;
- r
- radial length from the center of the cross section;
- rsf
- etching rate to the surface of GFRP bars;
- ,
- hydrolysis reaction rate of the matrix and glass fibers, respectively;
- R
- universal gas constant;
- R0
- bar diameter;
- R1, R2
- first and second reactants, respectively;
- Rdf
- diffusion depth;
- Ret
- etching depth along the radial direction;
- Rt
- effective radius;
- t
- exposure time;
- T
- temperature in kelvin;
- Tg
- glass transition temperature;
- Vf, Vm
- fiber/matrix volume fraction in GFRP bars;
- Vf, Vm
- molar volumes of fibers and the matrix, respectively;
- xn
- zeros of equation J0(x) = 0;
- Wi
- mass fraction of the ith constituent of the glass fiber;
- Y0
- zero-order Bessel function of the second kind;
- ΔS≠
- entropy of activation;
- α, β, ζ, η, λ
- all constants in solving the diffusion equation;
- θ
- angle in radian;
- κ
- transfer coefficient;
- ρm, ρf
- densities of the matrix and glass fiber; and
- v
- normal etching rate to the bar surface.
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Published In
Journal of Composites for Construction
Volume 28 • Issue 2 • April 2024
Copyright
© 2024 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Jul 24, 2023
Accepted: Dec 6, 2023
Published online: Jan 17, 2024
Published in print: Apr 1, 2024
Discussion open until: Jun 17, 2024
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