Apparent vs. True Bond Strength of Steel and PC with Nanoalumina

Abstract

The bond of polymer concrete (PC) to a steel surface is a critical aspect in many infrastructure applications. Bond strength can be evaluated through several means including pull-off, flexural, twist-off, and slant shear tests. While pull-off strength tests are the most common method for evaluating bond for PC overlays in bridge and parking structures, slant shear tests are more suitable when vertical rather than horizontal bond lines are used. In this paper, we discuss the use of slant shear tests to examine bond of polymer concrete repair material to steel pipes used to ensure wellbore integrity of abandoned oil wells used for CO2sequestration.Bond strength of Novolac PC incorporating nanoalumina particles to a steel surface was measured using slant shear tests. Different amounts of nanoalumina were used in the PC to improve bond strength without significantly reducing PC flowability. Slant shear testing confirmed the ability of nanoalumina to improve the steel-PC bond strength. A finite element (FE) model using the ABAQUS simulation environment was developed to compare the apparent versus the true bond strength. A cohesive contact element surface was used to simulate bond along the interface line. The FE model showed that the stiffness mismatch between the PC and steel controls the maximum shear stress developed at the interface surface. The true bond strength extracted from the FE model appears to be about twice that of the apparent bond strength.