Width effect of FRP externally bonded to timber

© 2019 9th International Conference on Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Composites in Civil Engineering, CICE 2018. All Rights Reserved. Bond mechanism between timber and fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) composites is affected by a number of variables. However, effect of parameters such as bond width, bond length, material properties and geometries on the bond strength is not fully understood. This study investigates the influence of bond width on the bond strength and failure mode of externally bonded FRP-to-timber interface. Pull-out tests on 136 FRP-to-timber joints with different FRP widths were conducted. Results of experimental tests showed that the bond width has significant effect on the bond strength; with the increase of FRP width, the interfacial bond strength increases. In addition, it was observed that the maximum shear stress decreases with the increase of FRP-to-timber width ratio. Furthermore, FRP-to-timber width ratio impacts on the local bond-slip in which slip of the bond reduces when this ratio is increased