Carbon Fibre Reinforced Concrete: Dependency of Bond Strength on T_g of Yarn Impregnating Polymer

Abstract

In this paper, a method for the evaluation of the influence of different polymer suspensions and environmental conditions on adhesion between an impregnated carbon fibre heavy tow and concrete for reinforcement will be proposed. For this purpose, the impregnation material itself was investigated as a polymer film before and after incubation in water and aqueous suspensions, such as NaOH and a cementitious solution, in terms of its thermal properties, swelling behaviour and morphology. Thin polymer films were manufactured and subsequently investigated with quantification of the swelling for 28 d by thermal and scanning electron microscope analysis. The effect of pull-out shear stress was evaluated to investigate parameters such as high temperature and moisture on adhesion to concrete. Contact angle measurements were used to determine the surface energy of the polymer films. All incubated polymer films yielded a change in both surface morphology and specific residues on the polymer film surface, e.g. in the form of calcium carbonate, but no change in glass-transition temperature. A high correlation between glass-transition temperature and measured shear stress was shown during single yarn pull-out tests. Furthermore, the water treatment of pull-out samples strengthened the influence for the glass-transition temperature during the adhesion test. No influence of the surface energy of the used polymer impregnation for carbon fibres on the pull-out test was detected.