Description
FRP rebars present interesting advantages over steel rebars for internal concrete reinforcement. Yet, as the technique is rather recent, durability investigations are still needed to better understand degradation mechanisms and to provide designers with optimised safety coefficients. Although several authors have been interested in the evolution of FRP rebars during ageing, few authors have so far investigated the evolution of FRP-concrete interfacial bond.
This study aims to present some investigations carried out on GFRP to concrete interface ageing. The bond behaviour between GFRP rebar and concrete was experimentally studied focusing on the combined action of thermally accelerated ageing in alkaline environment and sustained loading.
First, the samples geometry and the initial FRP to concrete interface characterizations will be introduced. Then, the ageing protocol will be presented. During this protocol, some of the samples have been submitted to constant load during ageing. To do so, specific experimental devices were developed and will therefore be precisely described. The obtained results will then be pointed out and discussed.
