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Pull-Off Testing as an Interfacial Bond Strength Assessment of CFRP-

Concrete Interface Exposed to a Marine Environment

Article  in  International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives · May 2018

DOI: 10.1016/j.ijadhadh.2018.04.015

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 International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives 84 (2018) 335–342

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ijadhadh

Pull-off testing as an interfacial bond strength assessment of CFRP-concrete T

interface exposed to a marine environment
⁎
Hamed Fazlia, , A.Y. Mohd Yassina, Nasir Shafiqa, Wee Teob
a
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, 32610 Seri Iskandar, Perak, Malaysia
b
School of Energy, Geoscience, Infrastructure and Society (EGIS), Heriot Watt University Malaysia, Jalan Venna P5/2, Precinct 5, 62200 Putrajaya, Malaysia

A R T I C LE I N FO A B S T R A C T

Keywords: The long-term performance of the bond between carbon fibre reinforced polymer composite (CFRP) fabrics and
fibre reinforced polymer concrete substrate is crucial to estimations of the reliability of externally strengthened concrete structures. This
pull-off test paper presents the experimental results and analysis of 162 pull-off tests using nine concrete slabs under various
adhesive bond environmental conditions, i.e., wet/dry cyclic exposure and full-immersion exposure of 3.5% salt-water at a
accelerated-ageing test
temperature of 60 °C. The main objective of this study was to assess the effects on the bond performance of CFRP-
strengthened concrete slabs during 12 months of exposure in a marine environment. Five types of failure modes
were observed in the tested samples. The test results confirmed that 12 months of exposure in a marine en-
vironment had a low effect on the epoxy performance between CFRP and concrete. The results also indicated the
marginal increase of pull-off strength values after 12 months of environmental exposure.

1. Introduction
The need to strengthen and/or retrofit reinforced concrete (RC)
structures has become common during the prescribed service life and
this is primarily due to environmental deterioration, corrosion of the
steel reinforcements or changes to design guidelines. In recent decades,
the method of strengthening of RC structures using externally bonded
composites of carbon fibre-reinforced polymer (CFRP) fabric has gained
popularity. CFRP composites are well known for their excellent prop-
erties, such as their high tensile strength, their stiffness, their light
weight, and their resistance to corrosion. As reported by Fazli and Teo
[1], the CFRP externally bonded technique has been shown to be able to
significantly enhance the load capacity and serviceability of RC struc-
tures. Previous studies have shown that stresses are transferred between
the CFRP laminates and the concrete substrate via an adhesive inter-
face. Loss of this stress transfer mechanism due to loss of the bond is a
measure of premature failure. Therefore, the stress transfer, measured
as bond capacity, is an important factor in the effectiveness of the CFRP
strengthening technique as it may dictate the failure mode of the
structure. In premature failure, the debonding of the FRP composite
from the concrete substrate manifests as a brittle failure before the FRP
composite reaches its design tensile capacity. Debonding is identified as
the main mode of failure and this is, therefore, an important con-
sideration in the designs of CFRP strengthening systems. The bond ca-
pacity is primarily affected by the physical and mechanical properties
of concrete, bond length and the adhesive stiffness and thickness.
Furthermore, some studies have concluded: (1) that the thickness of the
adhesive yields no significant effect on the shear stresses and, hence,
can be neglected, as reported by Nakaba et al. [2], and (2) Dai and Ueda
[3] noted that higher bond capacity could be achieved by using ad-
hesive with lower stiffness.
1.1. Effects of environmental conditions on bond performance
The corrosion resistance property of CFRP is considered to be one of
the potential strengthening techniques for RC structures in marine en-
vironments. However, environmental factors such as moisture content,
salinity and temperature can cause degradation of the performance of
the interface bond, which, consequently, can lead to a decrease in
service life of the strengthened structures. The findings of previous
studies have shown that when exposed to wet environmental condi-
tions, the bond strength may decrease over a period of time due to
interfacial debonding [4].
Design guidelines suggest the procedure of using predictive methods
to estimate long-term durability by introducing an environmental re-
duction factor (durability factor) on the shear characteristics of bonded
interfaces and the tensile properties of FRP reinforcements. An addi-
tional reduction factor is provided in the respective design equations for
a variety of environmental conditions that limit the strain in order to
prevent debonding. For example, as recommended by ACI 440.2R-08

⁎
Corresponding author.
E-mail address: hamed.fazli62@gmail.com (H. Fazli).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijadhadh.2018.04.015
Received 25 January 2018; Accepted 28 April 2018
Available online 01 May 2018
0143-7496/ © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
H. Fazli et al.
[5], in the case of an aggressive environment, the environmental re-
duction factor for the CFRP is 0.85.
1.2. Overview of the pull-off bond testing method
The performance of the bond between the CFRP and the concrete
surface has been studied in various experimental programmes, such as
the pull-off test, the flexural test and the peel-type tests. Generally, a
tensile bond strength obtained via a pull-off test can be representative
in the evaluation of the performance and behaviour of strengthening
systems, particularly for FRP composites such as CFRP-bonded concrete
substrates, as reported by Maerz et al. [6]. The pull-off test is a practical
way to assess the strength of the bond; it is repeatable and easy to
conduct in situ. The pull-off test can be used for various purposes, such
as measuring the bond strength of strengthening applications on con-
crete surfaces, measuring the tensile strength of concrete, estimating
the compressive strength of concrete and measuring the adhesive
strength of applied coatings on various substrates. The bond perfor-
mance, as assessed via the pull-off test, is evaluated under the following
anticipated environmental exposures: high humidity, freeze-thaw cy-
cles, wet/dry cycles and constant immersion in water.
Maerz et al. [6] conducted a series of tests on an FRP-strengthened
bridge at six-monthly intervals over a period of five years to evaluate
the long-term performance of the bridge. The average failure load was
observed as approximately 43kN and the failure modes were found to
occur at the coated epoxy interface and the FRP sheet. A study con-
ducted by Karbhari and Navada [7] investigated the effects of defects in
the FRP, the concrete substrate and the interface and a further in-
vestigation into the effects of environmental exposures on FRP appli-
cations was carried out by Myers and Ekenel [8]. Al-Salloum et al. [9]
used a series of pull-off tests to evaluate the bond strength of CFRP and
GFRP (glass fibre-reinforced polymer) strengthened concrete specimens
that were exposed to an elevated temperature environment. They re-
ported that at a temperature of 200 °C, in comparison with GFRP
strengthened specimens, the CFRP strengthened specimens showed a
significant reduction in bond strength as well as a loss in concrete
strength.
Currently, despite it being a commonly used method, studies of the
effects of durability on the bond performance of CFRP-strengthened
beams are still limited. Although previous researchers have provided
valuable results in terms of environmental exposure effects, limited
attention has been paid to the extensive study of the effects of a marine
environment on concrete-CFRP bond performance. To date, most of the
studies of durability have focused on the short-term performance of FRP
composites exposed to moisture. Moreover, research on the long-term
durability of the bond between CFRP and concrete substrate under
marine environmental conditions is much needed.
This experimental study has been conducted for the following pur-
poses: (1) to investigate the long-term reliability and performance of
the CFRP-concrete bond in marine environments using the pull-off test
and (2) to use the pull-off test to assess the estimated compressive
strength of the concrete under marine environmental conditions.
2. Experimental methods
2.1. Preparation of test specimens
Nine concrete slab specimens with dimensions of 300 mm (W) x
300 mm (L) x 50 mm (thickness) were prepared. One control specimen
was kept at the laboratory ambient temperature while the rest of the
specimens were subjected to the environmental exposure conditions.
The specimens were cast with ready-mix concrete. For the determina-
tion of the concrete compressive strength ( fc′) of the slabs, eleven cy-
linders of 100 mm diameter and 200 mm height were prepared. Table 1
summarizes the compressive strength test results for the laboratory
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International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives 84 (2018) 335–342
Table 1
Compressive strength ( fc′) test results for concrete cylinder specimens.
Testing 28 days three six months nine 12 months
duration months months
fc′ (N/mm2) 22.14 22.50 24.29 20.39 22.93
Fig. 1. Concrete slab; (a): CFRP bonded surface; (b): bare surface.
concrete specimens at the following ages: 28 days and three, six, nine
and 12 months.
The concrete slab specimens were bonded to the CFRP fabric on the
top surface (Fig. 1a) and left bare on the bottom surface, as shown in
Fig. 1b. The proper preparation of the concrete substrate is important to
achieve sufficient bonding at the CFRP-concrete interface. Initially, any
loose particles and uneven surfaces were removed by grinding the
surface. After grinding, sandpaper was used to smooth the surface prior
to the application of acetone onto the concrete surface, after which,
epoxy resin was applied. The epoxy resin used was Sikadur-330, having
two-part epoxy-based impregnating resins. This was applied to the
concrete surface using a small paint roller. A hand roller was used to
squeeze out any excess air voids between the concrete surface and the
CFRP fabric. To ensure optimum performance, the minimum thickness
of the CFRP/resin layer was kept at 1 mm, as stated in the manufac-
turer's product data sheet.
All concrete slab specimens were bonded with one layer of CFRP
unidirectional SikaWrap-231C fabric. After the CFRP fabric was com-
pletely applied, the specimens were allowed to cure for seven days in
the laboratory ambient temperature before they were subjected to an
accelerated ageing process, as detailed in the next section. The me-
chanical properties of the CFRP fabric and the epoxy were taken from
the manufacturer's product data sheet and are shown in Table 2.
2.2. Accelerated ageing process conditions
To accelerate the degradation of the specimens subjected to marine
exposure conditions, an accelerated ageing process was applied in this
study. This test was designed to simulate the wet and dry conditions
commonly encountered in a marine environment at the tidal zone.
Three stainless steel water tanks with dimensions of 2500 mm (L),
1500 mm (W) and 1500 mm (H) were constructed. Each tank had two
pumps for the circulation of the solution. A salt-water solution with
3.5% salinity was used to reproduce the average salinity level found in
ocean seawater. The solution temperature was maintained at 60 °C
beyond the glass transition temperature of the epoxy resin (+58 °C) in
order to accelerate the chemical deterioration process and moisture
absorption.
The following two exposure conditions were considered in this
study:
(1) Wet/dry cyclic condition: Test specimens were subjected to wet/dry
cyclic conditioning over periods of three, six, nine and 12 months.
Each cycle comprised three days of full-immersion in the salt-water
H. Fazli et al. International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives 84 (2018) 335–342

Table 2
Mechanical properties of CFRP fabric and epoxy resin.
Properties SikaWrap-231C Sikadur-330 Sikadur-30

Thickness (mm) 0.127 – –

Tensile strength (N/mm2) 4,900 30 (7 days at +23 oC) 26 (7 days at +15 oC)
29 (7 days at +35 oC)
Modulus of elasticity (N/mm2) 230,000 4,500 (7 days at +23 oC) 11,200 (7 days at +23 oC)
Elongation at break (%) 2.1 0.9 (7 days at +23 oC) –
Glass Transition temperature (oC), 30 days at +30 oC – +58 +52

Table 3
Summary of the experimental test program.
Group Concrete slab Environmental Condition

Bare CFRP bonded Type Duration (months) Cycles

Control CON CONC – – –

A A1 AC1 Cyclic 3 15
A2 AC2 Cyclic 6 31
A3 AC3 Cyclic 9 47
A4 AC4 Cyclic 12 63

B B1 BC1 Full 3 N/A Fig. 3. Proceq dy-225 pull-off tester.

B2 BC2 Full 6 N/A
B3 BC3 Full 9 N/A
B4 BC4 Full 12
solution at 60 °C, followed by drying for three days at the ambient
temperature in the laboratory to ensure that sufficient time was
allowed for the wetting and drying of the specimens. The full details
of the duration of the cycles for each test are summarized in
Table 3.
(2) Fully immersed condition: Test specimens were fully immersed in
the salt-water solution at 60 °C for periods of three, six, nine and 12
months.
2.3. Pull-off bond test
The pull-off bond test is one of the most common portable tensile
test methods used to measure bond strengths between a coating (CFRP)
and a concrete substrate. This approach has been adopted as a standard
method, BS 1881 part 207 [10]. The test requires an aluminium dolly
disc (Fig. 2) to be bonded to the surface of the specimens to progres-
sively increase the load until failure. Based on ASTM D7522 [11], the
partial core surrounding the test zone is recommended to be between
6 mm and 12 mm. The circular core, prepared using a core drill, yields
the same diameter as the dolly in order to facilitate the distinguish-
ability of individual tests.
N/A In this study, the pull-off bond tests were conducted using a Proceq
dy-225 pull-off tester (Fig. 3) in accordance with the ASTM D4541-09
[12] test method E wherein an aluminium dolly disc is attached to the
surface of the specimen. A drill press was used to make nine 50 mm
diameter cores through both the bare surface and the strengthened
surface of the concrete slabs. The depth of the core was 10 mm, as re-
commended by ASTM D7522 [11]. Each core was separated by 50 mm
to prevent cross-influence between the cores, as shown in Fig. 1.
Sandpaper and acetone were used to prepare, smooth and clean the
surface prior to application of the epoxy. Following surface preparation,
the dolly was attached to the core surface using Sikadur-30 epoxy ad-
hesive and was allowed to cure for a minimum of one day at the la-
boratory ambient temperature.
According to ASTM D4541-09 [12] requirements, at least three re-
plications are needed to characterize the test results. In this study, nine
rounds of pull-off testing for each surface of the specimens were per-
formed. In addition to evaluating the pull-off strength, the mode of
failure exhibited in each test was closely monitored and recorded.
Different failure modes may be observed at the bond surfaces after
testing. ASTM D7522 [11] classifies the failure characteristics into
seven different types. The observed modes of failure in this study are
classified and described in Table 4 and illustrated in Figs. 4 and 5 (the
interfaces between the epoxy resin, the adhesive, the FRP layers and the
concrete are enlarged for clarity).
3. Results and Discussion

3.1. Failure modes

3.1.1. Visual inspection

Visual inspection of the conditioned concrete specimens following
removal from the water tanks did not yield any damage to the speci-
mens or to the debonded regions of the CFRP materials. However, be-
cause of the hydration effects of the salt-water solution, a colour change
was observed in both the bare and the CFRP-bonded surfaces of the
concrete slabs.

3.1.2. The visual inspection of the failure modes of the control specimens
One concrete slab was tested under the laboratory ambient tem-
perature condition to act as a reference for comparison purposes.
Fig. 2. Aluminum dolly discs. Following the visual inspection, it was observed that both the bare and

337
H. Fazli et al. International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives 84 (2018) 335–342

Table 4
Pull-off test failure modes classification.
Failure Mode Failure Type Causes of Failure

A Concrete substrate failure Desirable failure mode.

B Combination of Mode A and C failure. Inconsistent FRP-concrete adhesion. Failure is partially adhesive and
partially on substrate.
C Epoxy resin/adhesive failure at interface. Incomplete epoxy resin/adhesive cure, contamination of adhesive
during application.
A/B At the top surface of concrete near the CFRP-concrete interface and also bond-line. Degradation of due to environmental exposure.
Failure mainly takes place in the concrete.
G Bonding adhesive failure at dolly. Improper adhesive bonding of dolly. This mode is not acceptable as a
failure mode.

Fig. 4. Failure modes of the pull-off test for the CFRP-bonded surface of the
specimens.

Fig. 7. Pull-off test failure, Mode G.

Fig. 5. Failure modes of the pull-off test for the bare surface of the specimens.

Fig. 8. Pull-off test failure, Mode A/B.

Fig. 6. Pull-off test failure, Mode A.
the CFRP-bonded surfaces had failed in respect of concrete substrate
failure (Mode A), as shown in Fig. 6. This failure mode (A) represents a
complete and acceptable bond between the CFRP and the concrete. It
demonstrates that the FRP-concrete bond strength was higher than the
tensile strength of the concrete.
3.1.3. General observation on the effects of wet/dry cyclic exposure on
failure modes
Visual observation of the three- and six-month conditioned speci-
mens test results showed that the dominant failure mode was Mode A at
both surfaces. However, one pull-off test failed due to the improper
bonding of the aluminium dolly disc on the bare surface of the six-
month conditioned specimen. Such failure is suspected to be the result
of the improper mixing of Part A (resin) and Part B (filler), as indicated
by the black spots of filler observed at the bond line, as shown in Fig. 7
(Mode G). The nine-month conditioned specimens showed that the
dominant failure at the bonded surface was primarily indicative of
Mode A, while on the bare surface, the dominant failure was Mode A/B,
as shown in Fig. 8. At the bare surface, 12-month conditioned speci-
mens exhibited various failure modes: Mode A (five tests), Mode C
(three tests; Fig. 9) and Mode A/B (one test). The bonded surface of the
12-month conditioned specimens exhibited four Mode A, four Mode B
(Fig. 10) and one Mode A/B. The study by Karbhari and Ghosh [13]
reported that the failure Mode A/B indicates the degradation of the
concrete surface saturated with adhesive because of the exposure con-
dition or the presence of defects within this region. They also report
that the loss of the bond at high points of the concrete substrate and the
likely deterioration of the epoxy-concrete bond line are to be expected
because of the moisture diffusion in this region, which results in Mode
A/B failure. Furthermore, visual observations of the failure modes in-
dicated that the CFRP-concrete bond line was less influenced by

338
H. Fazli et al.
Fig. 9. Pull-off test failure on the bare surface, Mode C.
Fig. 10. Pull-off test failure, Mode B.
exposure to the marine environment.
3.1.4. General observation of the effects of full-immersion exposure on
failure modes
After three months of exposure, the dominant failure mode was
Mode A for both surfaces. The results of the six-month conditioned
specimens showed that the dominant failure mode was Mode A at the
bonded surface, with one Mode B and two Mode A/B. At the bare
surface, the dominant failure was Mode A/B, with one Mode A. For the
nine-month conditioned specimens, the bonded surface exhibited fail-
ures of Mode A (dominant), B and A/B, while on the bare surface, the
dominant failures were indicative of Mode A/B, with one Mode A
failure. The 12-month test results of both surfaces showed Mode A/B
failure. The results clearly demonstrate a reduction in the thickness of
the detached concrete layer and the progressive deterioration of the
bond line over the duration of exposure, which is in agreement with a
previous study by Ghiassi et al. [14].
Upon completion of all of the pull-off tests, the various failure
modes of A, B, A/B, C and G were observed, which is in agreement with
Karbhari and Ghosh [13]. The test area where the aluminium dolly disc
was glued was almost equal to that of the aluminium dolly disc after
performing the pull-off test. Over the ageing period, a minor dete-
rioration of the bond line was observed, probably due to the penetra-
tion and diffusion of the salt-water solution. This observation is also
consistent with the increasing number of mixed failures. Wet/dry cyclic
exposure was found to induce a considerable change in the failure mode
of the bare surface, whereas less variation in the deterioration effects
was recorded under full-immersion exposure.
Under the wet exposure conditions, the water absorbed by an epoxy
acts as a plasticizer, which usually alters the Tg and mechanical prop-
erties of the material constituents and, consequently, reflects the degree
of plasticization, as reported by Frigione et al. [15]. Therefore, the
concrete mechanical properties may change over the ageing period, the
polymer matrix and adhesive may finish their polymerization (with an
339
International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives 84 (2018) 335–342
Fig. 11. Average pull-off strength versus ageing time for all tested specimens.
Each value placed next to the symbols represents the coefficient of variation by
%.
increase of young modulus) and plasticize (with a decrease of young
modulus) and the interfaces may also change. However, Zhou and Lucas
[16] have noted that during the drying period, the changes to Tg may
be partially reversed. The likelihood of epoxy deterioration increases
over long periods of exposure due to hydrolytic reactions or a chain
scission, which alters the performance of the epoxy [15].
3.2. Pull-off bond test results
The adherence results of global strength in the form of the average
pull-off strength for the nine multi-material specimens previously in-
troduced are depicted in Fig. 11. The average pull-off strength values
were obtained from the average of the nine pull-off test results. In
Fig. 11, the vertical lines represent the standard deviations of the pull-
off strengths and the values next to the vertical lines are the coefficients
of variation (CV; to evaluate the quality assurance of the test results).
Fig. 11 and Table 5 can be used to compare the progression of the
pull-off strength values for all of the tested specimens. The coefficient of
variation ((Standard deviation/Average) × 100 ) analysis for all of the
specimens varies between 6.83% and 20.32%, as shown in Fig. 11.
However, it should be noted that the large scatter observed in the pull-
off bond test results is typical behaviour, which is a consequence of the
difficulty in reproducing identical pull-off test conditions [17]. Fur-
thermore, according to the ASTM D4541-09 [12] standard, the max-
imum difference in the results recorded by the same machine is 27.8%
only for method E. These results are, therefore, acceptable as they
H. Fazli et al. International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives 84 (2018) 335–342

Table 5 mode, this reduction may have been caused by the effects of the ex-
Dominant failure mode and average pull-off strength and corresponding var- posure conditions and the ingress of the salt-water solution into the
iations for the tested specimens. concrete substrate. It can be observed that increasing the exposure time
Group Beam No. Dominant Average pull- Variation % to six months does lead to an increase in the average pull-off strength in
failure mode off strength A2 (26%) and B2 (7%) when the dominant failure is Mode A and Mode
(kN) A/B, respectively. This is probably due to the hydration process in the
exposure conditions. With increasing wet/dry cyclic exposure time, the
Control CONC A 6.71 –
CFRP bonded A AC1 A 4.33 −35 average pull-off strength exhibited a decreasing and increasing ten-
surface AC2 A 5.04 −25 dency for specimens A3 and A4, respectively. However, the average
AC3 A 5.78 −14 pull-off strength is still higher than that of the laboratory ambient
AC4 A, B 6.29 −6
temperature sample. This is due to the change in the failure modes of
B BC1 A 4.22 −37
BC2 A 5.68 −15
specimens A3 and A4, which demonstrates that changes in the failure
BC3 A 5.97 −11 mode can be induced by environmental conditions. By increasing the
BC4 A/B 5.09 −24 full-immersion exposure time, a progressive and marginal increase can
Control CON A 5.43 – be observed in the average pull-off strength in B3 and B4, along with a
Bare surface A A1 A 4.19 −23
failure of Mode A/B. This is probably because of the continuing ac-
A2 A 6.86 26
A3 A/B 6.38 17 celerated hydration of the concrete, which then led to changes in the
A4 A 6.60 22 pull-off strength of the concrete as the mechanical properties of the
B B1 A 5.36 −1 concrete may change during ageing, as stated earlier. However, despite
B2 A/B 5.81 7
exposure in the salt-water solution for the duration of 12 months, the
B3 A/B 6.19 14
B4 A/B 6.25 15
values of the residual strength and the type of failure still accounted for
the relatively acceptable global strength of the multi-material; the re-
sults obtained here are consistent with the findings of Mikami et al.
appear to be significant with regard to the standard deviations and the [19].
observation from the experimental tests.
Mixed failure modes were observed, the most predominant being 3.3. Assessing the concrete compressive strength by using the pull-off
concrete substrate failure (Mode A), as reported in Table 5. The results strength
yielded significant changes to the tested beams across the ageing
period. The lowest average pull-off strengths of each group of speci- In this section, the established Eq. (1) of Chen et al. [20] was em-
mens were observed in the three-month conditioned specimens. How- ployed to assess the estimated concrete compressive strength ( fcu ) of the
ever, at the end of 12 months, the average pull-off strength results were tested specimens by using the pull-off test:
above the ACI 440.2R-08 [5] required minimum of 1.40 MPa for
fcu = 8.65σp1.29 (1)
bonded surfaces.
The analysis of the results of the pull-off test on CFRP-bonded sur- where σp is the pull-off bond stress calculated using the following
face specimens, shown in Fig. 11(a) and Table 5, lead to the following equation [11]:
remarks.
Using the control specimens as the reference, the average pull-off 4Fp
σp =
strength in the specimens was observed to exhibit reductions of 35% πD 2 (2)
and 37% AC1 and BC1, respectively, when the dominant failure was where Fp = pull-off strength and D = diameter of the dolly. Table 6
Mode A. This behaviour may be due to the presence of chloride and the reports the ratio of the measured compressive strength to the estimated
infiltration of moisture and chloride into the concrete substrate. The compressive strength from the pull-off tests. The compressive strength
average pull-off strength values under wet/dry cyclic exposure were was measured using the compression test obtained from the specimens
slightly higher (2%) than those under full-immersion exposure; this was moulded with the same concrete as the pull-off test specimens. The
not significant. Over the period of ageing, a progressive and marginal average results of the nine rounds of pull-off tests performed on the bare
increase in the average pull-off strength, along with a failure of Mode A,
can be observed in all of the conditioned specimens except for specimen Table 6
BC4, which is in fair agreement with the evolution of the failure mode. Comparison of the experimental results with predicted values.
Such an increasing trend is expected because of the continual hydration
Specimen Measured Cube Predicted cube Measured/
process during marine environmental exposure. Moreover, in an ex- cylinder compressive compressive predicted
perimental study of elevated temperature effects on chloride ion pe- compressive strength strength based Ratio
netration in concrete, Cao and Detwiler [18] confirmed that high strength (MPa) (MPa)a on Eq. (2)
temperature leads to an accelerated curing process and, as concrete (MPa)
cured at high temperatures at young ages is more mature compared to laboratory 20.91 26.14 32.13 0.81
normally cured concrete, high-temperature-cured concrete yields better con- 24.01 30.01 0.93
resistance to chloride ion penetration. Furthermore, they reported that crete 21.49 26.86 0.84
in comparison with high-temperature-cured concrete, normally cured 22.77 28.46 0.89
22.22 27.78 0.86
concrete would have a lower chloride ion diffusion coefficient at more
22.68 28.35 0.88
mature ages. 25.9 32.38 1.01
When considering the average pull-off strength values for the bare 22.36 27.95 0.87
surface specimens, as shown in Fig. 11(b) and Table 5, the following 18.42 23.03 0.72
should be noted. 22.59 28.24 0.88
23.26 29.08 0.90
In comparison with the control specimens, the decrease in the
Average – – – 0.87
average pull-off strength is observed in A1 (−23%) and B1 (−1%, CV (%) – – – 8.32%
which is highly comparable to the control specimen) when the domi-
a
nant failure was Mode A. Given that Mode A was the dominant failure Cube compressive strength was converted from measured cylinder com-
pressive strength via the following: fc′ /0.8 .

340
H. Fazli et al. International Journal of Adhesion and Adhesives 84 (2018) 335–342

Table 7 4. Conclusions
Average pull of bond stress and predicted cube compressive strength.
Group Beam No. Average Estimated cube Variation % This paper presents the results of a one-year investigation into the
pull-off compressive effects of marine environmental conditions on the bonded and bare
bond stress strength (N/ surfaces of concrete slabs by means of the pull-off test. Wet/dry cyclic
(N/mm2) mm2) and full-immersion exposures influence the global pull-off strength and
Control CON 2.77 32.13 –
the changes in failure modes were examined at intervals of three
Bare surface A A1 2.14 23.00 −28 months over the 12-month period of investigation. It was found that the
A2 3.50 43.44 35 failure area was almost equal to the area of the glued aluminium dolly
A3 3.25 39.56 23 disc and that the pull-off strength increased after a one-year ageing
A4 3.36 41.33 29
period. The following conclusions may be drawn.
B B1 2.73 31.60 −2
B2 2.96 34.98 9
B3 3.15 38.04 18 1. Five different failure modes were identified: (A) concrete substrate
B4 3.18 38.52 20 failure; (B) a combination of concrete substrate failures adjacent to
the aggregates and bond-line; (A/B) type failures occurring at the
top surface between the concrete and the bond-line; (C) failure at
surface (5.43 kN; failure Mode A) of the control specimen were con- the bond-line between the concrete and the epoxy resin/adhesive at
verted to the average pull-off bond stress (2.77 N/mm2) using Eq. (2). the interface; and (G) failures occurring between the dolly and the
Consequently, the predicted cube compressive strength generated by epoxy.
Eq. (1) is 32.13 MPa. 2. At the end of the 12-month full-immersion exposure period, the
The results shown in Table 6 indicate that the ratio of measured to dominant failure modes of both surfaces were observed in the top
predicted compressive strength varies between 0.72 and 1.01. Fur- layer. Exposure to a 12-month wet/dry cycle yielded the dominant
thermore, the average and the coefficient of the variation (CV) of the failure mode of the concrete substrate and mixed failure modes for
measured to predicted ratio is 0.87 and 8.32%, respectively. The results the bare surface and the CFRP-bonded surface, respectively.
reveal that the predicted values have a good agreement with the 3. It was clear from the results that exposure to the marine environ-
measured results. As reported by Chen et al. [20] for the same mate- ment has a low effect on the Sikadur-330 performance between the
rials, in spite of the differences in the concrete types, the strength and CFRP and the concrete.
the test age, a single curve could be sufficient to reflect the correlation 4. Wet/dry cyclic exposure for three months resulted in a significant
between the pull-off tensile strength and the cube compressive strength. decrease in the average pull-off strength compared to the control
BS 1881 part 207 [10] also specifies that “in some circumstances, use of specimen, where the dominant failure was Mode A.
a general correlation may be adequate”. This demonstrates that Eq. (1) 5. With the exception of BC4, a progressive and marginal increase in
is acceptable as a predictive measure of the compressive strength of the the average pull-off strength was observed throughout the 12-month
concrete specimens used in this study. exposure period for all of the environmentally conditioned CFRP-
Since the effects of environmental conditions on the concrete sub- bonded specimens. The failures were predominantly Mode A.
strate were reflected in the pull-off strength values of the exposed 6. The presented Eq. (1) can be used to predict the compressive
specimens, as discussed in the previous section, for the purpose of strength of the Malaysian concrete used in this study.
comparison, it is possible to perform Eq. (1) to assess the progress of the 7. The 12-month marine environmental conditions resulted in an ap-
concrete compressive strength of the conditioned specimens in this proximately 9–35% increase in the estimated compressive strength
study. Therefore, the average pull-off bond stress obtained for the bare compared to the laboratory ambient specimen.
surface of the conditioned specimens was used to estimate the cube 8. The pull-off test is a reliable technique that has many advantages,
compressive strength of the conditioned specimens at introduced in- such as being simple, reliable and easy-to-use for the evaluation of
terval periods, as presented in Table 7. the in situ strength of concrete and the bond strength between the
Considerable differences in the estimated compressive strength va- overlays and the concrete substrate in situ.
lues were observed for both exposure types. However, the differences in
the profile trends and ageing behaviours of the tested specimens proved Acknowledgements
to be significantly more noteworthy as they are indicative of the in-
fluence of wet/dry cyclic conditions on compressive strength levels in Authors would like to thank the UTP for providing financial support
the initial state and after 12 months of ageing. As compared to the via Yayasan Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (0153AA-A52) and FRGS
control specimen, a markedly significant reduction (−28%) in the (0153AB-K75).
compressive strength of the concrete was observed in the three-month
wet/dry cyclic conditioned specimen, whereas a slight reduction References
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