The Effect of Saltwater Curing For Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) Plated Steel Member

The uses of Fibre Reinforced Polymer (FRP) for strengthening and repair of structures is becoming more established due to high strength and lightweight properties. However, the bond behaviour of FRP materials to steel structures in offshore environment is quite different from that of onshore due to the existence of corrosion activities. Results on preliminary test showed the strength of deteriorated steel members increased when FRP is used in offshore environment. The subject of this paper is to investigate the effect of the corrosion activity in the offshore environment to the strength of FRP-to-steel. The experimental program consists of the development of the test specimens, the simulation of saltwater in controlled environment and the pull test conducted in the laboratory. The results indicated that the mode of failure of the FRP is brittle and the ultimate load is reduced.