Assessment of the long term behaviour of structural adhesives in the context of NSM flexural strengthening technique with prestressed CFRP laminates

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 (RC) elements. This paper includes a state-of-the-art covering the following main aspects: (1) theoretical models used to predict creep behaviour; (2) standards proposing experimental setups and test procedures for the evaluation of creep in adhesives (3) reliable analytical models, which predictive performance has been assessed from experimental creep tests. The paper also includes an experimental program that was carried out to assess the creep model that best describes the bi-component adhesive selected to be used with the NSM technique in development. The main results are here presented and discussed.