Sharif Digital Repository

This study examined the bond at the interface of masonry bricks and fiber-reinforced polymer when exposed to five environments. Three fabrics (aramid, carbon, and glass) and one type of epoxy resin were used. A total of 375 brick-fiber-reinforced polymer specimens were made using wet lay-up technic and exposed to chemical solutions at four pH values (2.5, 7, 10, and 12.5) and substitute seawater. The effect of dry heat on the bond at the interface was also investigated. Single-lap shear tests were then carried out on the samples after 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 13 weeks of exposure. The experimental results indicated that freshwater and seawater had a considerable effect on the bond strength of... 

In this study, the effects of fiber type (i.e., carbon and glass fibers) and intumescent paint on the tensile performance of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets at elevated temperatures are investigated. For this purpose, a series of tensile tests were conducted on the glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP and CFRP) sheets, with and without intumescent fire retardant paint, at different elevated temperatures. The studied temperatures ranged from 25 °C to 600 °C. Scanning electron microscopy was also used to examine the effects of elevated temperatures on FRP sheets and the fire protecting mechanism of the intumescent paint. Based on the test results, the tensile strength of the... 

In this research, the mechanical properties of glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) bars with epoxy resin matrices embedded in concrete were investigated under an extensive range of elevated temperatures (i.e., 25–800 °C). Embedded FRP bars with various bar diameters were studied in order to determine bar diameter influence on the results. In addition, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the experimental results to investigate the contribution of exposure temperature and bar diameter to the tensile behavior of embedded in concrete FRP bars at elevated temperatures. The results show that the tensile strength of embedded FRP bars generally decreases with increasing... 

The bond of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement is expected to be more sensitive to the strength and geometry of the ribs than conventional steel reinforcement. In this study, the effect of carbon fiber mat anchorage on the pullout behavior of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars embedded in normal concrete is studied. The studied parameters were the compressive strength of the concrete (16 MPa, 24 MPa, and 37 MPa), and, the length and diameter of the anchorage. In total, 15 variables were studied. Ribbed GFRP bars with 10 mm nominal diameter and 80 mm embedment length, ld, (which is 8 times the bar diameter) were considered. Based on the results for concretes with the... 

In this research an intelligent emotional learning controller, Takagi- Sugeno- Kang (TSK) is applied to govern the dynamics of a novel Ionic-Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) actuated manipulator. Ionic-Polymer Metal Composites are active actuators that show very large deformation in existence of low applied voltage. In this research, a new IPMC actuator is considered and applied to a 2-dof miniature manipulator. This manipulator is designed for miniature tasks. The control system consists of a set of neurofuzzy controller whose parameters are adapted according to the emotional learning rules, and a critic with task to assess the present situation resulted from the applied control action in... 

In the present work, hot workability of particulate-reinforced Al6061-20%SiC composite produced by direct hot extrusion technique was studied. Uniaxial hot compression test at various temperatures and strain rates was used and the workability behavior was evaluated from the flow curves and the attendant microstructures. It was shown that the presence of SiC particles in the soft Al6061 matrix deteriorates the hot workability. Bulging of the specimens and flow lines were observed, which indicates the plastic instability during hot working. Microstructure of the composites after hot deformation was found to be heterogeneous, i.e. the reinforcement clusters were observed at the flow lines. The... 

This paper presents the results of an experimental and analytical study on high-strength, reinforced-concrete (RC) columns with different levels of initial ductility enhanced with carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) wraps. Six square columns 260 mm wide and 1650 mm long were tested under constant axial load and reversed cyclic lateral load. The test specimens were divided into three groups. Groups I and II were designed and detailed according to the requirements of American Concrete Institute ACI318-02 for intermediate-moment frames. Group I was wrapped with CFRP, group II was control specimens, and group III was designed and detailed according to the requirements of ACI318-02 for... 

This article is intended to highlight the effectiveness of longitudinal Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) bars in combination with GFRP sheets on the flexural capacity of Reinforced Concrete (RC) columns. Seven half-scale RC columns including five strengthened and two control unstrengthened specimens were experimentally tested under axial and cyclic lateral loads. The strengthened columns with two different longitudinal GFRP bar ratios were tested under three different axial load levels. The flexural strength and ductility parameters of the specimens were calculated by obtaining their deformations and measuring the loads from load cells. The experimental results indicate significant... 

Crashworthiness, energy absorption capacity, and safety are important factors in the design of lightweight vehicles made of fiber-reinforced polymer composite (FRP) components. The relatively recent emergence of the nanotechnology industry has presented a novel means to augment the mechanical properties of various materials. As a result, recent attempts have contemplated the use of nanoparticles to further improve the resiliency of resins, especially when resins are used for mating FRP components. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the response of nanoreinforced polymer composites, subjected to various rates of loading, is of paramount importance for developing reliable structures.... 

Soils are usually weak in tension therefore different materials such as geosynthetics are used to address this inadequacy. Worldwide annual consumption of geosynthetics is close to 1000 million m2, and the value of these materials is probably close to US$1500 million. Since the total cost of the construction is at least four or five times the cost of the geosynthetic itself, the impact of these materials on civil engineering construction is very large indeed. Nevertheless, there are several significant problems associated with geosynthetics, such as creep, low modulus of elasticity, and susceptibility to aggressive environment. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) was introduced over two... 

Unlike bonded retrofit systems, un-bonded systems do not need any surface preparation prior to bond application, which reduces the overall time and cost of a retrofit plan. Because the carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) plate in the un-bonded (tendon) systems is not bonded to a metallic substrate, different variants of the retrofit systems can be developed to ease application in the field. This paper presents four different variants of the prestressed un-bonded retrofit (PUR) systems: trapezoidal PUR (TPUR), triangular PUR (TriPUR), Flat PUR (FPUR), and Contact PUR (CPUR) systems. Analytical solutions based on the flexibility approach are developed to predict the behavior of the metallic... 

This research investigated the long-term environmental effects on the bond at the interface between fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) and a masonry brick. Seven types of FRP fabrics were used and placed on the masonry brick using the wet lay-up technique. Unidirectional and bidirectional fibers made of aramid, carbon, and glass and also combination of these fabrics were used. A total of 525 specimens were exposed to five chemical solutions with pH values of 2.5, 7, 10, 12.5 and substitution sea water for 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. A chamber was also used to simulate the ultraviolent (UV) radiation on the specimens. A series of single-lap shear tests were performed on these specimens to determine... 

This study investigates the effect of Thermal cycles on the mechanical properties of GFRP pultruded profiles with different geometries. Bending specimens consisted of I-shaped and U-channel profiles that were tested in three-point bending along their both principal weak and strong axes, whereas box profiles and laminates were used in compression and tension tests, respectively. Each specimen was exposed to a range of thermal cycles, between −20 °C and 20 °C. The failure modes of the profiles were closely investigated at both major and minor scales. Results were analyzed using ANOVA to determine the influence of each factor and a model was developed to predict the strength retention of... 

In this research, four types of concrete moment frame were designed with glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars according to ACI 440.1R-15 and the seismic behavior was assessed using pushover analysis. The frames were three and five stories with two and three bays. A computer code was developed to calculate the amount of fiber reinforced polymer bars in beams of the frames. In order to evaluate nonlinear behavior in plastic hinge regions, sections of beams and columns were analyzed on the basis of moment-curvature diagram and also P-M interaction curve for columns. Performance levels of frames were determined considering ATC-40 criteria. Behavior of concrete moment frames reinforced with... 

This study was aimed at gaining an improved understanding of the behavior of glass fiber-reinforced polymer laminates at elevated temperatures by means of testing laminate specimens with unidirectional, woven, and randomly distributed (chopped strand mat) fibers. The testing parameters were temperature, the type of fiber, and the thickness of the laminates. The failure modes of the specimens and their elasticity moduli at ambient temperature were investigated, and analysis of variance was conducted to determine the contribution of each parameter to the behavioral test results. The findings showed that among the parameters, an increase in temperature exerted the strongest effect on the... 

Fiber reinforced materials are widely used in many industrial structures including automotive, aviation, and civil due to their lower weights compared to metal structures. Full-composite body structures, especially in automotive and aviation applications, are becoming a proper replacement for current metal ones. For this reason, damage of such structures subjected to impact is a crucial case study in current research. The typical types of damages are mainly caused during production, repair, maintenance, or by particle crashes during function, and collisions between different structures. In this paper, four different fiber reinforced composite plates are studied after being impacted by a...