Shear Debonding of FRP from Concrete: The Influence of FRP Sheet Width on Load Carrying Capacity

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets have been extensively used for strengthening deteriorated concrete structures. The effectiveness of such strengthening depends upon the load transfer from concrete to the FRP composite. Shear debonding is usually caused by a crack that forms and then propagates at the interface between the adherents. The influence of the geometric parameters of the adherents on the fracture propagation is still a subject of research. This paper presents an experimental investigation performed on direct shear specimens to study the influence of the relative width of FRP and concrete on the load carrying capacity of the bond and the stress transfer between the adherents.