Abstract It is important to understand the effect of seawater immersion on the mechanical performance of CFRP (Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer) reinforced steel plate by fundamental test method. In our previous studies, it was revealed that the adhesive strength between the adhesive polymer and carbon fiber strands or steel plate decreases after long-term immersion in seawater. However, the immersion test conditions at that time were severe, and the strength evaluation was conducted using test specimens with water absorption to an extent that is not applicable in actual operation, which can be considered to be underestimated. Therefore, in this study, we predicted the saturated water absorption rate during long-term operation in actual sea areas and developed an accelerated testing method to achieve that absorption rate in a short testing period. This made it possible to perform strength evaluations after immersion in seawater that meets more practical water absorption rate, allowing for the analysis of the CFRP reinforcement effect. We also investigated the effects of surface treatment of steel plates and compared them with cases where no immersion was performed. Based on these results, we investigated the applicability of repairing construction method using CFRP for steel plates damaged by corrosion and other factors.
Matsuo et al. (Sun,) studied this question.