The surface bond characteristics of Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) IntroductionApplication of surface-bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets is an attractive retrofit technique to achieve deformation control and improved strength in brittle masonry and concrete vertical and horizontal structural members.The surface bond characteristics of FRP sheets have been a topic of research in last decades. The sheets exhibit brittle performance and often delaminate prematurely before they attain the full strength of materials.Based et al. (2007) hypothesized that the testing method and setup in experimental studies changes the way that loading conditions and the fracture mechanism are modeled in the study, and thus, affects the interpretation of results. This paper reviews available testing procedures and configurations and proposes a new method for direct shear testing method [11].

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