Underwater Fatigue Repair of Steel Panels Using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers
Abstract
Steel hydraulic structures (SHS) are deteriorating day by day whether it is from corrosion due to harsh environmental conditions or because of the fatigue cracks developed in the components due to daily wear. Repairing these fatigue cracks is not only time consuming but also expensive with available repair methods. Recent advances with the use of carbon fiber reinforced polymers (CFRP) to retrofit structures has proven helpful to increase the fatigue life of structures made of different types of metals. Although a large number of studies have been conducted for structures retrofitted with CFRP, very few have been conducted for underwater metal structures. The purpose of this experimental study is to evaluate the fatigue crack growth in SHS retrofitted with CFRP. Four specimens were tested with different types of CFRP and adhesive with different environmental conditions. The main focus is on the crack growth rate. As the river waters contain fluvial sediments as well as salt, the effect of both of these factors are taken into account. The results showed the increase in fatigue life with the use of CFRP but the effect of fluvial sediments and salts showed accelerated fatigue crack growth.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 22, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1073615
Entities
People
- Anuj Valsangkar
- Bashir Ahmadi
- Christine Lozano
- Guillermo A Riveros
- Hussam Mahmoud
- Mehrdad Memari
Organizations
- Colorado State University
- Engineer Research and Development Center