Behavior of cracked steel plates strengthened with adhesively bonded CFRP laminates under fatigue Loading: Experimental and analytical study

The strengthening of steel structures using externally bonded (EB) carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) laminates has gained popularity due to the advantages such as their high strength-to-weight ratio and corrosion resistance. Even though previous studies showed application EB CFRP can enhance fatigue performance cracked plates, little is known regarding high-cycle CFRP-to-steel joints. As debonding laminate from substrate a commonly observed failure mode under loading, sound understanding behavior joints crucial for better CFRP-strengthened plates loading. This study experimentally theoretically investigates plates. Five pre-cracked were strengthened with tested test results modes, fatigue-life extension, joint discussed. A numerical modeling approach based on recently developed bond-slip model interface loading presented plate. Although proposed theoretical conservative, this method accurately predicted remaining life