Investigation of thermo-mechanical properties of adhesive used for bonding CF fabrics to concrete members using post-curing techniques

Carbon fibre reinforced polymers (CFRPs) have been increasingly employed for structural strengthening using bonding adhesives. The work in this paper reports the use of post-curing temperature on adhesive properties in CFRP/concrete systems which use a bonding adhesive under a sustained load to achieve thermal and mechanical performance. An increase in the adhesives glass transition temperature were achieved for post-curing, and as expected it was found that the improvement in the glass transition was greater for samples post-cured at high temperatures, compared to those which had only been exposed to moderately elevated temperatures. However, the single-lap shear test results at elevated temperatures under sustained loads showed a greater improvement in the bond-loss temperature compared with those which were post-cured at only moderately elevated temperatures, with higher temperatures negatively affecting the concrete properties, particularly at the adhesive/concrete interface.