ABSTRACT
Abstract This paper presents the results of experimental studies on the durability and flexural behavior of prestressed concrete beams with CFRP tendons exposed to seawater/alkaline environments. Nine beam specimens prestressed with CFRP tendons were cast in three groups. In each group, one beam was tested as control specimen, the other beams were pre-cracked and subjected to wet/dry cycles in seawater or alkaline environments. The exposed beam specimens were tested after three months, six months or nine months of immersion. Test results show that the seawater/alkaline environments did not affect the flexural strength of the beams. Keywords: Alkaline solution, CFRP, degradation, durability, exposure, precracked, prestressed, seawater
1 Introduction
Non-metallic fiber reinforced plastics (FRP) has been recognized as an alternative to prestressing steel strands for bridges and prestressed concrete structures in corrosive environments. Numerous tests and demonstrations are being conducted to evaluate the performance of FRP prestressing tendons for prestressed concrete applications (Iyer and Sen 1991; Neale and Labossiere 1992; Nanni and Dolan 1993). It has been reported that the flexural behavior of concrete structures prestressed with FRP tendons can be predicted based on conventional flexural theory. However, research into durability behavior of nonmetallic tendons in prestressed concrete members is extremely limited. This paper presents the accelerated testing and performance studies on corrosion resistance of pre-cracked prestressed concrete beams with CFRP tendons.
