Experimental evaluation of the durability of adhesively bonded CFRP/Steel joints in bridges

Strengthening, repair and retrofit of existing bridges using adhesively bonded fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) composites have attracted a great deal of attention over the past four decades. Despite numerous studies that have been conducted to evaluate the short-term behaviour of FRPs bonded to steel members, the subject of durability is by far less researched. To date, concerns about the long-term performance presents a major obstacle to the widespread application of FRPs in steel bridges. The aim of this work is to identify the most damaging environmental factors and to experimentally investigate the effects of them on mechanical behaviour of Carbon-FRP/steel joints. In this regards, after a review of the literature, both bulk material and bonded specimens were exposed to a number of aging scenarios and tested. The results indicate the deleterious effects of de-icing salts on joint strength by degrading the interlaminar shear strength of FRPs