Papers by Author: Nor Hafizah Ramli Sulong

Abstract: This paper presents the experimental and numerical studies on the flexural strengthened steel I-beams by using Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) strips. Nowadays, strengthening existing steel structures by using CFRP has been widely interested. One of the common usages of CFRP to strengthen steel beams is the flexural upgrading. In this case, CFRP strips are pasted on the tensile flange to improve flexural behaviors. The problems that are frequently reported for CFRP strengthened steel beams are the debonding, delaminating (peeling), and splitting. Identification these failure modes are essential to provide an appropriate level of safety for strengthened steel beams. To investigate the CFRP failure modes, four strengthened steel I-beams were chosen. The CFRP plates with different thicknesses in single and double (splice) layers were used. Both experimental test (four-points bending test) and numerical simulation (full 3D simulation with ANSYS) were employed. The incremental loading was applied until failure while deformations in the critical regions were recorded. The results reveal that for the CFRP flexural strengthened steel beams the following failure modes occurred: (a) debonding at the CFRP plate tips, (b) debonding below point loads, (c) delaminating at the ends of CFRP plate, and (d) splitting below point loads. The sequence of failure modes depended on the specifications of CFRP plate. Some recommendations are provided to overcome/retard these failures.

Abstract: This study focuses on the effect of epoxy emulsion, a binder for producing water-borne intumescent fire protective coating for steel structures. The influence of binder on the fire resistive performance, char formation, thermal stability and bonding strength of the coatings were investigated in detail by using Bunsen burner test, thermogravimetry analysis (TGA), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and Instron microtester. It was found that the fire protection performance and foam structure of coating sample D2 was significantly improved by adding 10wt% of epoxy resin which produced the greatest thickness of char layer. In addition, TGA results showed that the residue weight of coating D2 was higher than coating sample D3 with 15wt% of epoxy. This indicated that sample D2 has better anti-oxidation and thermal stability. The results of Instron microtester indicated that the bonding strength of the coatings was improved with the increase of epoxy content.