TY - JOUR

T1 - FE analysis and experimental validation of mechanical wedge–barrel anchors for CFRP rods

AU - Heydarinouri, Hossein

AU - Vidovic, Aleksandar

AU - Nussbaumer, Alain

AU - Ghafoori, Elyas

N1 - Funding Information: The authors acknowledge the Innosuisse Swiss Innovation Agency (Grant ID: 19240.1 PFIW-IW) for funding this research project and the project partners, namely the S&P Clever Reinforcement Company AG, Switzerland, the Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) AG, Bern, and dsp Ingenieure + Planer AG Engineering Office, Uster, Switzerland. We also thank the laboratory technicians of the Structural Engineering Research Laboratory of Empa for their support in conducting the experiments. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s)

PY - 2021/11/1

Y1 - 2021/11/1

N2 - This paper presents a comparative study of the geometrical optimization of mechanical wedge–barrel anchors for prestressed carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) rods. Various anchor configurations were simulated using three-dimensional finite-element (FE) models. The FE models were validated using the draw-ins of the wedges, which were measured in static tensile tests. The configurations consisted of a steel barrel and aluminum wedges, taking advantage of the previous anchors. The conical profile of the wedge and barrel in different configurations had either a curve or a constant differential angle. In addition, a series of geometric modifications were introduced to the wedge at the loading using a fillet or cut. The stress concentration on the CFRP rod was evaluated using failure index Fs in the Tsai–Wu failure criterion for composite materials. The results of the FE simulations showed that a greater differential angle resulted in a smaller stress concentration at the loading end of the anchor and the modifications led to a reduction in the stress concentration. In addition, the anchor with a curved profile was selected as the optimal design because it had the smallest stress concentration owing to the smooth transition of the differential angle distribution along the wedge profile.

AB - This paper presents a comparative study of the geometrical optimization of mechanical wedge–barrel anchors for prestressed carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) rods. Various anchor configurations were simulated using three-dimensional finite-element (FE) models. The FE models were validated using the draw-ins of the wedges, which were measured in static tensile tests. The configurations consisted of a steel barrel and aluminum wedges, taking advantage of the previous anchors. The conical profile of the wedge and barrel in different configurations had either a curve or a constant differential angle. In addition, a series of geometric modifications were introduced to the wedge at the loading using a fillet or cut. The stress concentration on the CFRP rod was evaluated using failure index Fs in the Tsai–Wu failure criterion for composite materials. The results of the FE simulations showed that a greater differential angle resulted in a smaller stress concentration at the loading end of the anchor and the modifications led to a reduction in the stress concentration. In addition, the anchor with a curved profile was selected as the optimal design because it had the smallest stress concentration owing to the smooth transition of the differential angle distribution along the wedge profile.

KW - CFRP rods

KW - Finite element (FE)

KW - Prestressed tendons

KW - Wedge–barrel anchor

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85112310537&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114509

DO - 10.1016/j.compstruct.2021.114509

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85112310537

VL - 275

JO - Composite structures

JF - Composite structures

SN - 0263-8223

M1 - 114509

ER -