Performance comparison of fiber sheet strengthened RC beams bonded with geopolymer and epoxy resin under ambient and fire conditions
Journal of Structural Fire Engineering
ISSN: 2040-2317
Article publication date: 14 August 2017
Issue publication date: 11 October 2018
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present performance comparison of fiber sheet-strengthened reinforced concrete (RC) beams bonded with geopolymer and epoxy resin under ambient and fire conditions.
Design/methodology/approach
This study presents experimental results of bending tests at ambient temperature and fire resistance tests on two control beams and eight fiber sheet-strengthened RC beams. The test variables include fiber sheet type (carbon fiber [CF] and basalt fiber [BF] sheet), number of layers of fiber sheet (one and two layers) and adhesive agent type (geopolymers and epoxy resin). Data generated from these tests were used to evaluate and compare the strengthening effectiveness of CF-reinforced polymer (CFRP) and CF-reinforced geopolymer (CFRG) at ambient temperature and under fire exposure conditions.
Findings
Test results clearly show that the CFRG system can provide good strengthening effectiveness on RC beams at ambient temperature, as the CFRP system, owing to excellent bond properties of geopolymers. Although geopolymers possess better bonding properties at high temperature than organic matrix, the strengthened beams bonded with geopolymer do not exhibit better fire resistance than that those bonded with epoxy resin, owing to early falling-off of fire insulation. Thus, in CFRG-strengthened beams, relevant measures are to be taken to minimize falling-off of fire insulation to achieve good fire resistance.
Originality/value
The presented results are from unique fire tests and provide valuable insight (and information) on the performance of fiber sheet-strengthened RC beams bonded with geopolymer and epoxy resin under ambient and fire conditions.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The research presented in this paper is supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 51478195), the Open Fund of Shanghai Key Laboratory of Engineering Structure Safety (No. 2015-KF04), the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (2015ZZ071) and State Key Laboratory of Subtropical Architecture Science, South China University of Technology (Grant No. 2016KB15) and Michigan State University. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the sponsors.
Citation
Zhang, H.Y., Lv, H.R., Kodur, V. and Qi, S.L. (2018), "Performance comparison of fiber sheet strengthened RC beams bonded with geopolymer and epoxy resin under ambient and fire conditions", Journal of Structural Fire Engineering, Vol. 9 No. 3, pp. 174-188. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSFE-01-2017-0023
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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