The improvement of electrical conductivity of carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRP) has been investigated by conductive silver nano-particles coating for the purpose of aircraft lightning protection. Silver nano-particles in colloid were sprayed on the surface of carbon fibers, which were then impregnated by epoxy resin to form a CFRP specimen. Electrical resistance was measured by contact re...

The opinions, findings and conclusions expressed in this report are those of the principal investigator and the Missouri Department of Transportation. They are not necessarily those of the U. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report presents the results of a pilot study to apply externally bonded Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) sheets to strengthen a simple span reinforced concrete solid slab bridg...

Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) as an imaging technique producing a 2D or 3D impedance image (conductivity or impedivity) of the subject under test. It can be used for delamination detection and evaluating the damage location, size, strain and severity for Structure Health Monitoring (SHM) of aerospace composites i.e. Carbon-fibrereinforced polymer (CFRP) composites. Keywords—Electrical I...

Most of the laboratory tests investigated the flexural performance of un-preloaded or undamaged RC beams strengthened with CFRP composites. However, in engineering applications, the structural member must carry a certain load or damage. There is a lack of systematical investigations on the effects of preload or damage level on the flexural load-carrying capacity of CFRP-strengthened RC beams. T...

The need for repair and strengthening of deteriorated, damaged and substandard infrastructures has become an important challenge worldwide. The demand for increasingly heavier truck loads is forcing bridge owners to upgrade existing structures. In response to the growing need for concrete repair and rehabilitation, an experimental program was conducted to investigate the feasibility of using di...

Many steel structures are in need of strengthening due to reqUirements to increase carrying capacity and/or rehabili tation due to corrosion degradation. This paper summarizes the results of an investigation that has been conducted to evaluate the performance of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) materials to increase the strength and stiffness of steel structures. Two types of specimens we...

S ince 2000, the worldwide market for carbon-fiber-reinforced composite materials (CFRP) has grown from 30,500 to 43,500 tons per year. According to the latest estimates, the demand for carbon fibers will rise to some 1,300,000 tons by 2020 [1]. When preforms are used for manufacturing CFRP parts by the Liquid Composite Molding (LCM) process, up to 40 % waste accrues, resulting in a considerabl...