"Evaluating fatigue, relaxation, and creep rupture of carbon-fiber- reinforced polymer strands for highway bridge construction"

Abstract

Fatigue strength, relaxation, and creep rupture strength of carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) strands were evaluated experimentally, and their impact on bridge beam design was investigated. The long-term relaxation of CFRP strands was evaluated by loading CFRP test specimens under different environmental conditions and monitoring prestress loss over time. Creep rupture strength of CFRP strands after 1 million hours of sustained stress exposure was predicted by loading and monitoring CFRP test specimens under a range of sustained stress levels for an extended time. The fatigue strength of CFRP strands was established by cyclically loading CFRP test specimens using different stress amplitudes. In addition, and as a benchmark for fatigue evaluation, low-relaxation steel and stainless steel strand test specimens were prepared and cyclically loaded within the fatigue test matrix. Test results showed that fatigue strength of CFRP strands is superior to that of low-relaxation steel and stainless steel prestressing strands. In addition, the one-million-hour relaxation loss of CFRP strands is approximately 2% for a wide range of initial stress levels. Furthermore, the one-million-hour creep rupture strength is at least 88% of the average tensile strength of the strands. Extended exposure to environmental conditions did not seem to affect the tensile capacity of CFRP strands.