Analysis of FRP–concrete debonding via boundary integral equations

The problem of debonding of FRP plates glued over a concrete element is studied making use of boundary integral equations. Mode II cohesive crack model is adopted for the interface, whereas linear elasticity is used for the two materials outside the process zone. Symmetric Galerkin boundary element method is used, adopting the arc-length technique to follow the equilibrium path beyond its critical point. It is shown that, due to the presence of a softening branch in shear stress slip law, the behavior of a specimen undergoing debonding may be strongly non-linear, and is associated with a very brittle failure mechanism. For bond lengths longer than minimum anchorage length, a snap-back branch typically occurs after the attainment of the maximum force. Two different test setups have been numerically simulated and results in good agreement with experimental tests are found.