New Method for Testing Fiber-Reinforced Polymer Rods under Fatigue

This paper presents a newly developed specimen for testing fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composite reinforcements under cyclic loading. In this configuration the FRP rod is completely encased in concrete. The specimen is formed of three discrete blocks. The end blocks serve as anchors for the rod, whereas the central block provides the concrete environment to the part of the rod where failure is expected to occur. The specimen can be easily handled and uses a very simple test setup that can be adapted to all universal testing machines. An extensive research program has been initiated by the writers to study the influence of varying parameters on the fatigue performance of FRP products. Results of demonstration tests performed on a proprietary carbon FRP rod using the specimen developed are presented in this paper. The results show consistent findings and great potential for using the specimen in different situations such as tensile and cyclic testing of FRP reinforcements.