Experimental and numerical investigation on the corrosion effects on the bonding behavior between CFRP and steel

This paper intends to investigate the corrosion effects on the bonding behavior between CFRP and steel. The corrosion parameters such as the pit density P-d, the average pit depth D-ave and width W-ave were acquired by using an immersion simulation algorithm. By conducing the shear tests of the CFRP/steel single lap specimens, the bonding parameters such as the ultimate load F-u, the shear strength tau(max )and the fracture energy G were obtained and their relationships with corrosion parameters were established. In addition, finite element models considering the corrosion topography were proposed to simulate the bonding behavior. Results showed that the F-u and the G increased first and then stabilized as the P-d increased, and increased slightly then decreased as the D-ave and the W-ave increased, indicating that the corroded surfaces distributed with a large number of pits of appropriate sizes may maximize the bonding strength and the fracture energy; the tau(max) increased with the P-d, and decreased as the D-ave and the W-ave increased, indicating that a larger pit number and a smaller pit sizes would lead to a higher shear strength; the F-u and the interfacial shear stress distribution in finite element analysis were similar to the experimental results.