Delamination Detection-Oriented Finite Element Model for a Fiber Reinforced Polymer Bonded Concrete Plate and Its Application With Vibration Measurements

Abstract

Delamination is a common type of damage in laminated fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites. As FRP composites are becoming popular in upgrading and strengthening of civil concrete structures, the specific delamination damage, i.e., the FRP-concrete debonding, is considered more critical than inter-laminar delamination occurring in the FRP composites. A finite element formulation on the FRP-bonded concrete plate with this type of delamination fault is developed in the context of non-destructive evaluation from vibration measurements and compared with a two-layer solid element model. An adhesive interface where possible debonding could occur is introduced between the FRP and the concrete plates. A scalar damage parameter characterizing the delamination is incorporated into the formulation of a finite element model that is compatible with the vibration-based damage identification procedure. The formulated model is then applied to the prediction of FRP-concrete delaminations from modal test results based on the sensitivity analysis of uniform load surface curvature, which has been previously proposed by the authors. The validity of the methodology is demonstrated in two numerical examples. The first one is used to check the model accuracy, while the second one assesses the efficiency of the model-based identification method.