BOND DURABILITY BETWEEN GFRP BARS AND FRESH AND SEA WATER CONCRETE UNDER SEAWATER IMMERSION

This study evaluated the bond durability between glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars and concrete produced with freshwater (FW) and seawater (SW) using direct pullout tests after being exposed to seawater under different temperatures, namely 20 °C, 40 °C, and 60 °C. Unaged (reference) air-cured pullout specimens were also tested for the sake of comparison. After 1-year of aging, the bond strength results for FW composition were 5%, 16%, and 5% higher than the corresponding reference for environments 20 °C, 40 °C, and 60 °C, respectively, while for SW composition, were 82%, 39%, and 36% higher than corresponding reference at the same temperatures.