Characterization of Environment-Assisted Subcritical Debond of Bonded Repairs/Strengthening of Aging Infrastructure

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The major objective of this research effort is to develop a transformative approach to understand the degradation mechanism and assess the long-term durability of the FRP-to-concrete interface. This approach consists of a) quantitatively characterizing the kinetics of environment-assisted subcritical debond growth along the FRP-to-concrete interface, and b) development of a mechanism-based degradation model for the FRP-to-concrete interface in aggressive environments. The proposed subcritical debond testing closely simulates the failure occurring during the service-life of the FRP-to-concrete interface, allows interaction with environmental species during testing, and reduces ambiguity associated with fracture energy due to competitive effects of concrete curing, long-term concrete strength gaining, epoxy creep, and epoxy curing.This project will have immediate effects on research and applications of FRP materials in concrete infrastructure by providing a new avenue to study and account for the long-term durability of FRP strengthened structures. The PIs propose an aggressive educational plan designed to be complementary to the research activities with focus on recruiting a diverse group of traditionally underrepresented (female, rural, minority and/or socio-economically disadvantaged) students to participate in the proposed activities. A series of teaching modules will be developed based on the proposed research endeavor and blended into the curriculum of the PI's department. A workshop based on this study will be held for minority high school students from economically stagnant areas in Alabama through the Engineering Academy program. Underrepresented high school students and undergraduate students will have opportunities to participate in this project. Seminars based on this study will be given to science and engineering faculty from historically black colleges and universities.