The bonding interface between the CFRP and the steel plate is the weak link of CFRP-strengthened steel structures. This paper studies the bond–slip relationship of the CFRP–steel interface by experiments and numerical tests. First, a series of double-strap experiments on a CFRP-strengthened steel plate are carried out. The results show that the maximum shear stress of the bonding interface of the Q345B specimen is larger than that of the X100 specimen. The initial slip and maximum slip become larger as the thickness of the bonding interface becomes larger. Finite element analysis of the above tests is carried out; we introduce the maximum stress criterion to simulate the bonding interface, which assumes that when the nominal stress of the material reaches the maximum nominal stress of damage, the material begins to damage. The FE model established has proved very effective for analyzing the bond characteristics of CFRP-strengthened steel plates. Finally, a verification test was carried out, using an FE analysis to verify the accuracy of the modified equations; the results prove that the results of the modified equations are in good agreement with the numerical results and experiment results, which verifies the effectiveness of the equations.

CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) are widely used in steel structural reinforcement. For steel structures strengthened with CFRP, except the cases the structures have defects before strengthening, the adhesive interface is the weakest part and CFRP debonding is the most common failure mode. In order to investigate the failure mechanism of CFRP strengthened steel structures, this paper presents an experimental study on shear performance of adhesive interface between steel plate and CFRP by twin shear model. Six steel plates strengthened with CFRP are divided into two groups, one has no damage, another has a gap at the mid. The specimens are tested under tensile loadings. The study results show that, the plates with a gap failed for CFRPs debonding, the cracking loading and breaking loading are 14.85kN, and 17.88kN respectively; the strain-loading curves had long linear stages, two strains decrease and other strains of another side increased rapidly at the cracking loading, then they both rose until the plates failed.