Creep of structural adhesives: an overview

Abstract

This study is part of a research project that aims to develop a new strategy to apply prestressed Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) laminates according to the Near Surface Mounted (NSM) technique for the flexural strengthening of Reinforced Concrete elements. CFRP elements exhibit lower relaxation than common steel strands and the creep of the bonding agents is, therefore, the most relevant effect to be taken into account in the longterm effectiveness of this strengthening technique. This paper describes an experimental program carried out for the assessment of the creep model that best describes the adhesive selected to be used with the NSM technique in development. From the obtained data it was verified that Burgers model is capable of simulating with high accuracy the creep behaviour of the adopted adhesive.