Experimental Studies of Steel Beams Reinforced with Carbon Plastic Composites

Abstract

When reinforcing metal structures, an increase of bearing capacity is achieved due to inclusion in operation which assume part of the current load. Most often, such an element is a rolling corner, channel, pipe, or steel strip. As an alternative, carbon fiber composite elements may be used for reinforcement. In this case the reinforcement element is best performed from a carbon fiber lamel. Lamel can be used as reinforcement of steel structures working both for tension and bending. When reinforcing the bending elements, the carbon fiber lamel is glued to the stretched side of the beam. The article presents the test results of beams reinforced with carbon fiber. Experimental samples are made of square steel pipes with a section of 50x3 mm, length of 1000 mm. Reinforcement is performed by carbon fiber lamel with section of 25x1.2 mm, which is glued with two-component glue. The choice of parameters of the investigated construction is due to the characteristics of the test equipment. Samples cut from the steel pipe were pre-tested to determine the mechanical characteristics of the steel. Also, the properties of the carbon fiber lamel were clarified by the tests of the samples. When evaluating the experimental load, were used the previously obtained data on the lamel inclusion in the work before the exhaustion of the strength of the adhesive layer. Method of carrying out tests of reinforced beam is presented, test installation, used equipment and step-by-step progress of experiment is described. Analysis of the experimental data showed a significant effect of the gain on the bearing capacity of the beam. It has been found that due to reinforcement of carbon fiber, beam strength increases in comparison with elastic stage of operation by 9-17%.