A Numerical Investigation of CFRP-Steel Interfacial Failure with Material Point Method

The success of retrofitting steel structures by using the Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) significantly depends on the performance and integrity of CFRP-steel joint and the effectiveness of the adhesive used. Many of the previous numerical studies focused on the design and structural performance of the CFRP-steel system and neglected the mechanical responses of adhesive layer, which results in the lack of understanding in how the adhesive layer between the CFRP and steel performs during the loading and failure stages. Based on the recent observation on the failure of CFRP-steel bond in the double lap shear tests [1], a numerical approach is proposed in this study to simulate the delamination process of CFRP sheet from steel plate using the Material Point Method (MPM). In the proposed approach, an elastoplasticity model with a linear hardening and softening law is used to model the epoxy layer. The MPM [2], which does not employ fixed mesh-connectivity, is employed as a robust spatial discretization method to accommodate the multi-scale discontinuities involved in the CFRP-steel bond failure process. To demonstrate the potential of the proposed approach, a parametric study is conducted to investigate the effects of bond length and loading rates on the capacity and failure modes of CFRP-steel system. The evolution of the CFRP-steel bond failure and the distribution of stress and strain along bond length direction will be presented. The simulation results not only well match the available experimental data but also provide a better understanding on the physics behind the CFRP sheet delamination process.