Fo 706 ‘Stress analysis In epoxy bonded steel-concrete joints D. VAN GEMERT, F. NORREE, E. ULRIX ‘Katholioke universitet Leuven, ‘Department bouwkunde de Croyiaan 2 3030 Hoverioe ‘Belgium ‘The stress distribution in epoxy bonded steel cuncrete joints, which are frequently used in reinforced concrete retrofitting works, depends on the geometry of the joint, on the material characteristics, on the environment and onthe _—stress_—_—history. A combined experimental/numerical research program has been executed to determine the stress distribution and the critical stresses, and to set up reliable design rules. ‘As the stress distribution and strength capacity of the joints also depend on the curing evolution, relevant temperature histories during curing were simulated, and their influence on the joint behaviour wes studied. Especially a temperature drop of several hours after applying, the glue revealed to have negative influence on the mechanic: behaviour of the joint, even after further long curing at normal temperature. Mechanical Behaviour of Adhesive Joints, pp. 439-442 ‘© PLURALIS 1987INTRODUCTION Epoxy bonded steel-concrete joints are frequently used in reinforced concrete retrofitting works. Steel strips are glued to the concrete surface by means of a two-component epoxy adhesive, creating a concrete-glue-steel composite element, which is loaded by shear forces or bending moments, The stress distribution (shear and tensile stresses) in the joint depends on the geometry of the steel, of the concrete and of the glue, on their material characteristics, on the environmental conditions and on the stress history. ‘The use of this new technique in construction industry must be based on simple but relevant and reliable design methods. The number of influencing parameters is large. Several of them depend on the material behaviour which characterisation remains one of the most difficult. aspects of material science. All analytical or numerical analysis fail or succeed with the correct characterization of the material. ‘A test program was set up at the Reyntjens Laboratory of the Katholieke Universiteit at Leuven to provide practical information about the stress distribution in epoxy bonded steel-concrete joints and to look for safe and economic design rules. ‘The experiments were designed to simulate the real stress situation in the practical applications. Two main types of tests were carried out : pure shear tests and shear-bending test ‘The same design problems were calculated both analytically and by finite element method. the aim was to check the validity of existing theorical formulations, based on elasticity theory, and to set up a model, corresponding to the test situations and findings. ‘The mechanical behaviour of the epoxy adhesive highly depends on the application temperature. In construction industry the application temperature is determined by the weather conditions. Tests were carried out to study the influence of low application temperatures on the mechanical strength of the glue. These results demonstrate the limitations of the design calculations. PURE SHEAR AND SHEAR BENDING EXPERIMENTS Pure shear A special test plece was developed for this purpose (Van Gemert and Vanden Bosch, 1984). The test piece 1s an unreinforced concrete prism with the dimensions 150 mm x 150 mm x 300 mm, Fig. 1. Two pairs of steel plates are glued on the opposite sides of the prism.== Fig. 1: Test plece for pure shear test One pair has a width of 100 mm, and all the measurements are made on these plates. Before testing, two longitudinal cuts are sawed alongside the plates to get a well-determined surface under loading. The two other plates are 150 mm in width, and serve as fixing elements. The test piece is loaded in a specially designed frame by ‘an upward and downward force. The ditribution of the forces in the plates and of the shearing stresses in the adhesive layer are obtained from strain-gauge measurements over the lengths of the plates. Typical results of the measured stress distributions are given in Fig. 2 and 3 for a test piece showing an ultimate load P of 37 KN per plate. In the region of low tensile forces (Fig. 2, curve 1) there is an exponential drop of the resultant force in the plate and of the shearing stresses in the adhesive. In the first zone shearing stresses reach a maximum of about 2,5 N/mm?, while at a greater distance and at higher loads they can reach 5,5 to 6 N/mm?. At higher loads (curves 2 and 3 in Fig. 2) the stresses in the initial zone of the anchorage are not growing equally with the applied force, but they are reduced by cracking of the concrete. In the initial zone of the joint the shearing stress increased linearly with the applied force P until it reaches a value of about 1,5 N/mm*. This value corresponds to the concrete tensile strength at the surface, measured by the pull-off method.436 tT UN/ am?) tUNImm2) 1 P= 24KN, 2, Pz 60 KN 3. Ps TKN os s075 125-75 25 300 0075 075 125 75 25 30 ” RE Ener nae, Average shearing stresses Fig. 1: Average shearing stresses ata first loading in a cracked specimen Bending shear The calculation of the area of the externally bonded steel plates in’ pure bending is extensively discussed in (Van Gemert and Vanden Bosch, 1982). From the experiments we concluded that, for the analysis of the stress distribution over the cross-section one’ may assume that there is a perfect connection between the external steel and the concrete element, without any shifting. Therefore the design of the section may proceed on the usual manner. In bending problems the shearing stresses in the adhesive layer between the external reinforcement and the concrete are partly due to the variation of the bending moments and partly to the introduction of forces in the anchoring zones, Fig. 4«37 tn a Fig. 4: Moments and stresses Fig. S > Typical shearing stress n bending distribution in anchoring A typical distribution of the shearing stresses in the anchoring zone is given in Fig. 5. The design of the anchorage \s now reduced to the pure shear case in the following way. The critical zone is situated near the free end A of the plate. The force AP = a, . Ay is calculated, where c, is the theoretical tensile stress in the’ external plate at the end A, and A, is the cross sectional area of the external steel. This force AP is the compressive force which must be superposed to the theoretical forces in the external plete following the scheme of Fig. 4, to get the real force distribution, with zero force at the free end A, Under service conditions the joint behaves elastically and we assume that the compressive force AP causes a triangular shearing stress distribution with a maximum r, at A. These. shearing sttesses are added to the theoretical shearing stress t,,. The resulting value (ty, + t.) may not exceed the characteristic value Ry of the surface tensile strength of the concrete. With AP and the value (t,, + £,) the anchoring length L can be calculated. THEORETICAL ANALYSES OF AN EPOXY BONDED JOINT Analytical techniques Analytical formulations ure used to describe the problem with @ system of differential equations, including the boundary conditions. To atrive at the system of differential equations, a lot of simplifications are necessary, through which nonlinear strains, nonlinear material characteristics and complex geometries are almost impossible to be calculated. Though these limitations the anslytical formulations provide a helpful tool to improve the insight into the problem, to Indicate the stress concentration and to check the results, obtained by numerical analyses.Theory of Volkersen ‘This theory is extensively discussed by Volkersen (1938). As an example we show the results of the calculations for an epoxy bonded steel concrete joint in bending (Fig. 6). The theory of Volkersen, valid for pure shear, can be extended to bending problems by superposition, as explained above. The following assumptions were made = homogeneous, linear elastic and isotropic materials; - neglection of bending effects in the adhesive layer; - the normal and shear strains in the components of the joint are fonstant through their thickness. TiN smm? (im*)_ gnchoring shear stresses — total sheor stresses. P2u5 kN 25 Fig. @: Shear stresses in the auhtesive according to Volkersen Comparing with tests shows that the distribution of the shear stresses is less concentrated at the end of the steei plate. The reasons are : the strains in the concrete are uot constant, but vary through the thickness: peak stresses in the adhesive are reduced by plastic deformations; there are some cracks in the concrete if high loads are applied; the thickness of the adhesive layer varies between zero and 2 3 mm; 4 suitably shaped "spew" decreases the maximum stresses. In order to take all those phenomena into account, finite element calculations were performed to become a more realistic model of the epoxy bonded steel-conerete joint.Numerical analysis . ‘The stress distribution in the anchoring zone of an epoxy bonded steel plate, loaded in bending, was calculeted by finite element method (Norrée, 1984). Emphasis was put on the influence of concrete ‘acking at the steel plate end. The finite element nesh at the plate ent i shown in Fig. 7. Gl smal crack NSS big crack , wa AS AAAS TSS SSDS | me Figure 7 |As for small loads material characteristics are linear and there are no cracks in the concrete, a linewr analysis was performed to compare with our experimental results. to the FE-model are : steel: E = 210000 N/mm?; Material characteristics, introduced concrete + E = 30000 N/mm?; V = 0, Vea 0,3: glue : E = 7000 N/mm; V= 0, In the calculations the Internal reinforcements are neglected, but the concrete Is considered #s being able to resist tensile stresses. Calculations were performed with the finite element program SAMCEF (Systeme pour l'Analyse des Milieux Continus par la Méthode des Eléments Finis) developed at the Université de I'Etat de Lidge. The average shear stresses in the adhesive elements at the plate end are shown in Fig. 8. The considered loads are 15 and 30 kN, which represent low loading levels. The calculated exponential curve as well as the peak values of the shear stresses, fit very well with experimental data.EAN Fmm2) m0 2503003505 Fig. 8 : Average shear stresses in the adhesive elements At higher loading levels the concrete at the steel plate end cracks. These cracks change the stress distribution in the anchoring area in an important way. For those load conditions our finite element model was improved by removing “concrete elements" at the end of the steel plate to simulate cracks. ‘Two cases were considered : on the one hand a very small crack, on the other hand a crack up to the internal reinforcement, Fig. 7. ‘The same material characteristics and assumptions as for the linear analysis were used, Figure 9 shows the average shear stresses in the adhesive elements for the small crack and Fig. 19 for the big crack. The considered loads are 45 and 60 KN. — PEkS kN TIN mm2) -—— P60 KN m1 m2 DO 3H] D0 S00, Fig. 9: Average shear stresses in the adhesive elements, small crack— P=kS KN TIN / m2) =a- P60 kN 0° D150 200 25300380500 Fig. 10 : Average shear stresses in the adhesive elements, big crack ‘The curves have the same shape as the results obtained by tests fon cracked beams. The bigger the crack, the smaller the maximum of the shear stresses and the more the maximum moves to the right. Those findings were also confirmed by the tests. Influence of application temperature The design calculations discussed above are based un experiments, executed at laboratory temperature of 20°C. On the site this temperature 1s often not reached. Except in full summer period night to day temperature vartations between 5 and 25°C are common. In spring and autumn variations. between negative and positive temperatures frequently arrive. Therefore we simulated a gluing operation at 5°C (Olivier and Van Put, 1987). This temperature was kept constant during 7 days. At the end of this period the strength of the glue and of the glued connection were tested. The glue strength was reduced by 30 % in comparison with the strengths after 7 days hardening at 20°C. The shear strengths of the glued connection got a lesser reduction of only 10 %, due to the greater flexibility of the glue, which enables a spreading of the force transfer over a larger area. After 7 days hardening the test specimens were subjected to 20 thermal cycles of 12 hours at 80°C and 12 hours at 20°C. At the end of the 20°C period a static load was applied to the glued connection, and the distribution wat measured. Cracking at the joint tips took place after only two to four thermal cycles. This cracking was not observed in samples, hardened at 20°C. After 30 cycles, all the test samples were loaded to rupture. The rupture load was nearly the same, regardless of the temperature history. This shows that the glue got a strength recoverydue to the repeated heating. However,’ the cracking will certainly have decreased the fatigue and shock resistance of the connection, which are of vital importance in construction applications. CONCLUSIONS For the design of epoxy bonded steel-concrete joints several theoretical models are available. The finite element method is the most powerful method because it provides a very large flexibility to Dulld up a model which closely fits with the geometrical composition, the evolution In material behaviour, and the development of cracks. ‘The main problem, however, remains the correct knowledge of the material characteristics. For that a lot of experimental work is still needed. In addition, the preparation of the concrete and steel surfaces as well as the bonding operation itself, must be carried out with great care. Especially the control of application temperature shows to be of great Importance, because it determines the short time as well as the Jong time mechanical behaviour. LIST OF REFERENCES: 1. Norrée, F., 1984, "Stress analysis in the anchoring zone of epoxy Donded steel-concrete joints,” thesis K.U.Leuven (in Dutch). 2. Olivier, C., and Van Put, M., 1987, “Influence of hardening temperature on strength of bonded steel-concrete joints,” Thesis K.U.Leuven (in Dutch). 3. Van Gemert, D., and Vanden Bosch, M., 1982, "Design of externally bonded steel plate reinforcements for elements, loaded in bending," Tijdschrift der Openbare Werken van Belgié (in Dutch). 4. Van Gemert, D., Vanden Bosch, M., 1964, "Strengthening and repair of reinforced and prestressed concrete structures," Seminar on Tall Structures and use of Prestressed Concrete in Hydraulic Structures, held in New Delhi 1984. 5. Volkersen, ©., 1938, "Die Nietkraftverteilung in zugbeanspruchten Nietverbindungen | mit __—konstanten—_Laschenquerschnitten," Luftfahrtforschung 15 (1998), pp 41-47.