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CICE 2010 - The 5th International Conference on FRP Composites in Civil Engineering

September 27-29, 2010 Beijing, China

Comprehensive Characterization of BFRP Applied in Civil Engineering


Hui Li (huili@hit.edu.cn), Guijun Xian, Bo Xiao & Jingyu Wu
School of Civil Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150090, China

ABSTRACT: In the present study, BFRP rebars for internal concrete reinforcement and wet lay-ups for external rehabilitation have been systematically characterized on the basic physicochemical properties and durability performance of the BFRP materials subjected to hygrothermal ageing, freeze-thaw cycles and elevated temperatures. The basic mechanical performances of BFRP are tested according to ACI 440.3R, which
indicates the better modulus and stiffness than GFRP, but inferior to CFRP. Hygrotheral ageing in distilled
water and alkaline solution immersion leads to deterioration of both mechanical and thermal properties. The
water uptake and thermal properties due to the long term immersion ageing were performed to understand the
degradation mechanisms. After extreme freeze-thaw cycles ranging from -30oC to 30oC, no adverse effects
were found for the properties of BFRP and the bonding between BFRP and concrete blocks. The elevated
temperature leads the mechanical properties BFRP rebars to be reduced remarkably. The residual properties
exceed the half room temperature values at the temperature much higher than the glass transition temperature
of the system. Compared to the CFRP and GFRP, the promising properties of the BFRP rebar and wet lay-up
clearly illustrates the high potential for the application in civil engineering.
1 INTRODUCTION
As a novel reinforcement, basalt fibers are produced directly from basalt rock through a melting
process with high mechanical properties and chemical resistance (Sim, Park et al. 2005). Compared to
the commonly used carbon fiber reinforced polymer
(CFRP) and glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP),
basalt fiber reinforced polymer (BFRP) composites
possess many advantages, such as relative low price,
excellent mechanical and thermal properties, good
chemical resistance, and environmental friendly, etc.
Since BFRP has been applied in civil engineering
only for several years, the comprehensive knowledge of the BFRP from the basic physicochemical
properties to the long term durability in various civil
environments is not completely understood yet. As
known, a comprehensive knowledge of basalt fiber
and BFRP in terms of basic physic-chemical properties, long term durability under various civil environments, freeze-thaw cycle resistance as well elevated temperature resistance, is prerequisite for its
acceptance in the field.
In the past several years, some works have been
conducted on the performance and application of
BFRP composites in structural strengthening, rehabilitation etc. (Sim, Park et al. 2005; Cerny, Glogar
et al. 2007; Deak and Czigany 2008; Wang, Zhang
et al. 2008; Yongsheng, Zhishen et al. 2009). Some

contradictory results are reported in literature, which


may due to the fact that the properties of basalt fiber
varied from each other seriously, dependent on the
basalt rock mines and producing process. Without
consistent and reliable property data of BFRP, as believed, it may be impossible to design and apply
them in real civil engineering practice, especially for
some key infrastructures.
In view of this, the present work is focused on a
thorough performance investigation of commercial
BFRP composites for civil engineering application.
GFRP and CFRP bar have already been accepted to
replace traditional steel rebars in many applications,
while FRP wet layups have been widely used to
strengthen, rehabilitate and renew civil structures in
the past more than 20 years. Therefore, the current
investigation is concentrated on BFRP bar and
BFRP wet layups.
The effects of water immersion, alkaline immersion, and extreme freeze thaw as well as elevated
temperature on the performance degradation of
BFRP bars and wet layups are explored. The study is
aimed to evaluate the possible advantage and withdraw of the BFRP application in civil engineering.

2 EXPERIMENTAL
2.1 Materials
An epoxy resin system, including epoxy resin and
hardeners, is developed at our lab used for saturation
of fiber clothes to strengthen, repair and rehabilitate
concrete or other civil engineering structures. This
epoxy resin system has a low viscosity, and thus can
easily saturate a fiber fabric completely. The resin
can be cured at room temperature, and reaches a
high deflection temperature (>80oC).
Unidirectional basalt fiber fabrics are commercially
available in China. As indicated, the fiber diameter
is 13 micron; the area density of the fabric is 360
g/m2; tensile strength is 2.1GPa and modulus is
105GPa.

Figure 1. BFRP wet layup plate. The white edge is cured extra
epoxy resin.

trowel. Two layers of fabrics were used for a sample


with the dimensions of 300 x 300 mm2.
After cured in the lab (around 23oC) for 7 days,
the wet layup plate was cut into 25mm x 250mm
strips completely along the fiber direction. Those
strips used for tensile testing will be post-cured at an
oven of 110oC for 2 hours.
BFRP bars are also commercial available in China. The bar was spirally wound with glass fiber roving and sand coated to improve the bonding strength
to a concrete structures. The studied bar diameter is
8 mm, and shown in Figure 2.
2.2 Testing
Tensile testing were performed for both BFRP bar
and wet layups, according to ACI 440.3R and
ASTM D3039, respectively. Note, BFRP bar should
be anchored with steel pipes at both of the ends. A
high modulus epoxy adhesive developed at our lab
was used to bond the rebar with the steel pipe.
For BFRP wet layup samples (150 mm x 20 mm
x nominal thickness of 0.8 mm), the strain was
measured with a mechanical strain gauge. For BFRP
bar, the strain measurement only be performed less
than 0.5%, in order to avoid damage of the strain
gauge by the exploring breakage of the BFRP bar.
Freeze-thaw cycle testing was performed with an
refrigerator and an oven with a temperature range of
30oC ~-30oC, 24 hours for one cycles. The testing
samples are BFRP strips and BFRP bonded concrete
block. The temperature profile for two cycles can be
seen in Figure 3. As shown, the temperatures on the
sample surface and the surrounding are measured,
which are almost the same.

Figure 3. Freeze-thaw temperature cycle profile.


Figure 2. BFRP bar (nominal diameter, 8mm) tested in the present study.

BFRP prepared with a hand wet layup process.


First, a pre-cut fabric, laid on a flat surface, was saturated with enough epoxy resin system. The more
resin was pressed out from the fabric with a plastic

Immersion ageing of BFRP bar and wet layup


strips were performed with water bath at 23, 40, 60
and 80oC. Water uptake of the samples was tested
with the gravimetric method. The moisture uptake
was detected by periodically measuring the mass of
the samples. Samples were taken out of the baths,
swiped off the surface water using tissue papers and

weighted using an electronic balance with an accuracy of 0.01 mg. The presented data are an average
for 10 coupons for each condition.
Tensile properties of aged samples were tested
using the same procedure as un-aged samples.
The elevated temperature performance of BFRP
specimens were conducted on BFRP bar only. One
set of samples were tested at elevated temperatures,
while one another set of samples were tested after
elevated temperature treatment for pre-determined
period.
3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION
3.1 Basic properties of BFRP composites
Table 1 & 2 present the basic tensile properties of
BFRP wet lay ups and bars. For comparison, similar
GFRP and CFRP materials from renown companies
in the world.
As shown in Table 1, BFRP wet layups exhibit a
slightly higher tensile strength (by 5%) and modulus
(by 11%) than GFRP, but much lower than CFRP. In
addition, both BFRP and GFRP have an elongation
at break 2.2%, much higher than that of CFRP, ~
1%.
Table 1. Comparison of tensile properties of BFRP, GFRP and
CFRP wet layups.
Tensile
Tensile
Elongation
modulus
strength
(%)
(GPa)
(MPa)
BFRP
602.9
29.7
2.2
GFRP*
575
26.1
2.2
CFRP*
986
95.8
1
Note, GFRP and CFRP are referred to Tyfo SEH 51A and
Tyfo SCH 41 composites from Fyfe Co LLC
(www.fyfeco.com).

The bonding strength of BFRP bar to concrete


block is remarkably higher than those of GFRP and
CFRP. This indicates the surface configuration of
the current BFRP bar is effective to enhance the
bonding to concrete. The lowest bonding strength of
CFRP is expected and reported elsewhere.
3.2 Freeze-thaw cycle resistance of BFRP
Freeze-thaw cycle testing in the temperature range
of -30 ~ 30oC was performed for BFRP strip and
BFRP bonded concrete blocks. After 88 cycles, there
is no any degradation on the tensile properties of
BFRP strips. Figure 4 gives variation of the tensile
strength of the BFRP as a function of freeze-thaw
periods (one day one cycle). The same results are
found for tensile modulus and elongation at break,
which were not given in the paper.

Figure 4. Variation of tensile strength of BFRP subjected to


freeze thaw cycles.

Table 2. Comparison of tensile properties of BFRP, GFRP and


CFRP bars.
Bonding
Tensile
Tensile
to conElongation
modulus
strength
crete
(%)
(GPa)
(MPa)
(MPa)
BFRP
899
50.3
1.8
14.8
GFRP*
825
40.8
/
11.6
CFRP*
2100
124
1.7
8.5
NoteGFRP Bar is ASLAN 100; CFRP bar is ASLAN 200
Both are from Hughes Brothers, Inc. USA.

Similar results are also found for BFRP bars (Table 2). BFRP possesses much higher modulus compared to GFRP and a closed strength. Both GFRP
and BFRP bars show remarkable inferior to CFRP in
tensile properties.

Figure 5. Pull-off testing of BFRP-concrete block with a pulloff testing machine on the left bottom.

Besides of the BFRP composites, more concern is


focused on the bonding performance of the BFRP

and concrete block. In the present study, after 60


freeze thaw cycles, no any degradation in the bonding strength (measured with pulling off testing) was
found. All testing indicates the fail occurred on concrete structures (see in Figure 5) rather than debonding of the FRP plate from concrete.

to the immersion ageing, showing a remarkable decrease even in the first month immersion. This indicates that the fiber surface modification for improved adhesion of resin to the fibers, and resin
modification with improved water insulation, should
be conducted for better immersion ageing performance.

3.3 Immersion ageing


BFRP bar and wet layup samples are immersed in
distilled water and alkaline solutions (simulating
concrete alkali environment) at 23, 40, 60 and 80oC.
Water uptake and mechanical properties were
tracked with immersion time.
As shown, for wet layups, despite remarkable degradation of tensile strength, the tensile modulus of
wet layups is only slightly affected. It is interesting
to note that the degradation degree of the modulus in
alkaline is not readily higher than that in water.

3.4 Elevated temperature performance


BFRP composites were aged at elevated temperature
for various temperatures and then tested on its tensile properties. Up to 250oC for 8hours, both modulus and strength are only slightly decreased, less
than 5%, indicating the promising post-fire performance.
With increasing the testing temperatures, the tensile modulus and strength oslowly decrease when the
temperature less than 200 C, and then dramatically
reduce with further omore increase of the temperatures. At about 320 C, the tensile strength of the
BFRP reduces to its half value at room temperature,
while the tensile modulus
reaches the half original
value at about 250oC.
4 CONCLUSIONS

Figure 5. Variation of tensile modulus of BFRP wet lay ups


subjected to distilled water immersion at various temperatures.

The basic mechanical properties, freeze-thaw resistance, immersion resistance as well as elevated temperature performance of BFRP bar and wet layups
were systematically studied in the present paper. As
shown, BFRP composites possess promising mechanical and durability characteristics, which are essential for the application of a new material in civil
engineering field.
5 PREFERENCES

Figure 6. Variation of tensile modulus of BFRP wet lay ups


subjected to alkaline solution immersion at various temperatures.

For BFRP bar, due to the improved impregnation


quality and high fiber content, less degradation is
found for tensile modulus, strength and elongation at
breakage. Tensile strength of the BFRP bar, as the
same as the wet layup samples, are also vulnerable

Cerny, M., P. Glogar, et al. (2007). "Comparison of mechanical properties and structural changes of continuous
basalt and glass fibres at elevated temperatures." Ceramics-Silikaty 51(2): 82-88.
Deak, T. and T. Czigany (2008). "Investigation of basalt fiber
reinforced polyamide composites." Materials Science,
Testing And Informatics Iv 589: 7-12.
Sim, J., C. Park, et al. (2005). "Characteristics of basalt fiber as
a strengthening material for concrete structures."
Composites Part B-Engineering 36(6-7): 504-512.
Wang, M. C., Z. G. Zhang, et al. (2008). "Chemical durability
and mechanical properties of alkali-proof basalt fiber
and its reinforced epoxy composites." Journal Of Reinforced Plastics And Composites 27(4): 393-407.
Yongsheng, T., W. Zhishen, et al. (2009). "Development of
self-sensing BFRP bars with distributed optic fiber
sensors." Proceedings of the SPIE - The International
Society for Optical Engineering: 729317 (10 pp.).

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