Cover
Vol. 25 No. 2 (2025)

Published: December 31, 2025

Pages: 61-74

Original Article

Bond Performance Evaluation for Members Cast with Reinforced Normal-Strength Concrete Strengthened by Slurry-Infiltrated Fiber Concrete Jacket

Mohammed F. Ojaimi 1 David A.M. Jawad 1 Abdullah A. Al-Hussein 1
1 Department of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Basrah, Basra, Iraq
History
  • Received: July 11, 2025
  • Revised: August 25, 2025
  • Accepted: September 11, 2025
  • Available Online: December 31, 2025
DOI

https://doi.org/10.33971/bjes.25.2.7

Abstract

In recent decades, the need for strengthening and repairing reinforced concrete structures has increasingly arisen. One common method is the use of concrete jackets. Slurry Infiltrated Fiber Concrete (SIFCON), a newly developed material, offers superior mechanical properties, making it a preferred choice for strengthening and repairing concrete structures. However, there is limited understanding of its bonding performance when used as an overlay on a Normal Strength Concrete (NSC) substrate. This study conducted a direct Shear Test (DST) to evaluate the bond performance using reinforced NSC cubes externally bonded with SIFCON jackets subjected to direct shear. Eighteen reinforced cubes were strengthened with various bonding systems to investigate how different factors affect the bond performance between the NSC substrate and SIFCON overlay. The parameters studied included surface preparation methods, binder types, jacket configurations, bonding conditions (fresh overlay on hardened substrate and hardened overlay on hardened substrate), dowel placement, and bonding mechanisms. The results show that using bonding agents significantly improved bond strength, with epoxy proving more effective than latex. Specimens prepared by chipping showed better bonding performance compared to those prepared through diamond cutting. Chipping increased bond strength by 8.91% to 13.84% over diamond cutting in the case of fresh SIFCON overlay on hardened substrate. Using dowels in the bonding systems also improved bond performance by 10.89% to 16.97%. Applying jackets to three sides instead of two increased the ultimate failure load by 31.76% when dowels were used in both the two-sided and three-sided strengthened samples, and by 35.45% in the absence of dowels in both types of strengthened specimens. The cast-in-situ specimens demonstrated superiority over those strengthened with precast jacket layers.

Keywords

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