Abstract: Failure of reinforced concrete (RC) members (such as beams, slabs) strengthened with externally bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) is usually governed by the debonding between FRP and concrete, which is associated with the cracking behaviour of the strengthened RC members. In experimental studies, it is usually difficult to capture such debonding failure due to its brittle and quick nature. The finite element (FE) method is a useful tool for investigating the failure mechanisms and processes of such debonding failure. This lecture provides a review of existing FE studies on FRP-strengthened RC structures, including but not limited to the research work done by the authors’ research group in the past decade. Key issues in the FE analysis of the debonding failure are discussed, based on which, an advanced FE model capable of predicting the failure mode and failure process of FRP debonding is introduced. A dynamic approach developed by the authors’ research group to overcome the difficulties in achieving numerical convergence, which is usually associated with FRP debonding and concrete cracking, is also presented. The proposed FE modeling approach has been successfully used to accurately simulate the intermediate crack (IC) debonding failure of RC beams strengthened in flexure with FRP plates, failure of FRP-plated beams with end-anchorages, failure of RC beams shear-strengthened with FRP and debonding failure of FRP-concrete bonded joints. Some numerical results are presented as examples to substantiate the accuracy of the proposed approach.

Biography: Dr. Guang-Ming Chen is a Professor in School of Civil Engineering and Transportation, South China University of Technology (SCUT). He obtained his bachelor and master degrees both from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST), and his PhD from Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Before taking the current role, he worked as a Professor in Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT). He also worked in University of California at Berkeley as a one-year visiting scholar during 2015-2016. Prof. Chen has been the PIs for four NSFC projects, including one young scholar project and three general projects. He was elected as “outstanding young teacher” of Guangdong Province in 2014. He is now a council member of the International Institute of FRP in Construction (IIFC) and an external reviewer of National Natural Science Foundation of China (NFSC). He is now the Associated Editor of international journal Advances in Structural Engineering and Guest Associate Editor of the international journal Frontier in Materials, and serves as reviewers of a number of reputable international journals such as Journal of Structural Engineering, ASCE, Journal of Composites for Construction, ASCE, Engineering Structures, Construction and Building Materials, Composite Structures etc. His main research areas focus on use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) in construction (structural strengthening and new structures) and use of recycled concrete aggregate concrete (RAC) in construction. He has published over 60 peer reviewed journal and conference papers (with an H-index of 20 in Google Scholar).