Precracked reinforced concrete T-Beams repaired in shear with bonded carbon Fiber-Reinforced Polymer sheets

This study investigates the structural behavior of precracked reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams strengthened in shear with externally bonded carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets. It reports on seven tests on unstrengthened and strengthened RC T-beams, identifying the influence of load history, beam depth, and percentage of longitudinal steel reinforcement on the structural behavior. The experimental results indicate that the contributions of the external CFRP sheets to the shear force capacity can be significant and depend on most of the investigated variables. This study also investigates the accuracy of the prediction of the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) contribution in ACI 440.2R-08, UK Concrete Society TR55, and fib Bulletin 14 design guidelines for shear strengthening. A comparison of predicted values with experimental results indicates that the guidelines can overestimate the shear contribution of the externally bonded FRP system. © 2012, American Concrete Institute.

Precracked reinforced concrete t-beams repaired in shear with prestressed carbon fiber-reinforced polymer straps

The results of an experimental and numerical investigation involving unstrengthened reinforced concrete (RC) T-beams and precracked RC T-beams strengthened in shear with prestressed carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) straps are presented and discussed. The results provide insights into the influence of load history and beam depth on the structural behavior of both unstrengthened and strengthened beams. The strengthened beams exhibited capacity enhancements of 21.6 to 46% compared to the equivalent unstrengthened beams, demonstrating the potential effectiveness of the prestressed CFRP strap system. Nonlinear finite element (FE) predictions, which incorporated the load history, reproduced the observed experimental behavior but either underestimated or overestimated the post-cracking stiffness of the beams and strap strain at higher load levels. These limitations were attributed to the concrete shear models used in the FE analyses.

Hybrid core carbon fiber composite sandwich panels: Fabrication and mechanical response

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite sandwich panels with hybrid foam filled CFRP pyramidal lattice cores have been assembled from a carbon fiber braided net, 3D woven face sheets and various polymeric foams, and infused with an epoxy resin using a vacuum assisted resin transfer process. Sandwich panels with a fixed CFRP truss mass have been fabricated using a variety of closed cell polymer and syntactic foams, resulting in core densities ranging from 44-482kgm-3. The through thickness and in-plane shear modulus and strength of the cores increased with increasing foam density. The use of low compressive strength foams within the core was found to result in a significant reduction in the compressive strength contributed by the CFRP trusses. X-ray tomography led to the discovery that the trusses develop an elliptical cross-section shape during pressure assisted resin transfer. The ellipticity of the truss cross-sections increased, and the lattice contribution to the core strength decreased as the foam density was reduced. Micromechanical modeling was used to investigate the relationships between the mechanical properties and volume fractions of the core materials and truss topology of the hybrid core. The specific strength and moduli of the hybrid cores lay between those of the CFRP lattices and foams used to fabricate them. However, their volumetric and gravimetric energy absorptions significantly exceeded those of the materials from which they were fabricated. They compare favorably with other lightweight energy absorbing materials and structures. © 2013.

WETTABILITY OF EPOXY RESIN ON CARBON FIBER

The micrographs of epoxy resin on single carbon fiber at room temperature and the temperature dependent contact angle on single carbon fiber were investigated using field environmental scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The results showed that the contact angle decreases significantly with increasing temperature. The advantage of this experimental approach was that can directly reflected the wettability of epoxy resin to fiber. But the experimental process was complicated, and there were many influence factors. The reason is that the wettability of epoxy resin on parallel sheet can be improved at higher temperatures. The spreading procedures for the epoxy resin droplet on carbon fiber cluster were observed by means of drop shape analysis system ( DSA) in parallel and perpendicular directions of the aligned fibers.

Analysis of nephroloxic and carcinogenic aristolochic acids in Aristolochia plants by capillary electrophoresis with electrochemical detection at a carbon fiber microdisk electrode

Aristolochic acids (AAs) are the main bioactive ingredients in the most of Aristolochia plants, which are used to make dietary supplements, slimming pills and Traditional Chinese Medicines (TCMs). Excessive ingestion of AAs can lead to serious nephropathy. Therefore, quantitative analysis and quality control for the plants containing AAs is of great importance. In this paper, capillary electrophoresis (CE) with electrochemical detection (ED) at a 33 mu m carbon fiber microdisk electrode (CFE) has been applied to detect AA-I and AA-II in Aristolochia plants. Under the optimum conditions: detection potential at 1.20 V, 2.0 x 10(-2) mol L-1 phosphate buffer solution (PBS) (pH 10.0), injection time 25 s at a height of 17 cm and separation voltage at 12.5 kV, the AA-I and AA-II were baseline separated within 5 min. Low detection limits for AA-I and AA-II were 4.0 x 10(-8) mol L-1 and 1.0 x 10(-7) mol L-1, respectively. Wide linear ranges were from 4.0 x 10(-8) mol L-1 to 1.9 x 10(-5) mol L-1 and 1.0 X 10(-7) mol L-1 to 5.0 x 10(-5) mol L-1 for AA-I and AA-II, respectively. The proposed method has been successfully applied to analyze AAs contents in plant extracts. The results indicated that the contents of AAs in each part of Aristolochia debilis Sieb. Et Zucc.