COMPARATIVE TENSILE BEHAVIOR OF COMMERCIAL WOVEN CFRP FABRICS AT THE MATERIAL LEVEL

Abstract

In this study, the tensile behavior of ten commercially available woven CFRP fabrics widely used in structural strengthening applications was experimentally investigated at the material level. Tensile tests were conducted on unimpregnated CFRP fabric strips using a universal testing machine under identical loading conditions, following a procedure close to the ASTM D5035 strip test method. Maximum tensile force, nominal tensile stress, and strain capacity were evaluated, where strain values were derived from crosshead displacement. The experimental results revealed pronounced variability among the investigated CFRP fabrics. The maximum nominal tensile stress ranged approximately from 40 to 140 MPa, while the maximum strain varied between 1.1% and 2.7%. The findings indicate that relying solely on manufacturer catalogue values may not adequately represent the actual mechanical performance of woven CFRP fabrics used in structural strengthening applications. Therefore, preliminary material-level tensile testing can provide a practical quality assessment step for comparing commercially available CFRP fabrics prior to strengthening applications.

Keywords

• CFRP fabric
• tensile test
• material-level characterization
• quality assessment
• structural strengthening.

References

1. [1] American Concrete Institute (ACI). Guide for the Design and Construction of Externally Bonded FRP Systems for Strengthening Concrete Structures (ACI 440.2R-17). Farmington Hills, MI: American Concrete Institute, 2017.
2. [2] American Concrete Institute (ACI). Guide Test Methods for Fiber-Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) for Reinforcing or Strengthening Concrete and Masonry Structures (ACI 440.3R-12). Farmington Hills, MI: American Concrete Institute, 2012.
3. [3] Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR). Guide for the Design and Construction of Externally Bonded FRP Systems for Strengthening Existing Structures (CNR-DT 200 R1/2013). Rome, Italy: National Research Council, 2013.
4. [4] Fédération Internationale du Béton (fib). Externally Applied FRP Reinforcement for Concrete Structures. fib Bulletin 90. Lausanne, Switzerland: fib, 2019. DOI: 10.35789/fib.BULL.0090
5. [5] ASTM International. ASTM D5035/D5035M-20. Standard Test Method for Breaking Force and Elongation of Textile Fabrics (Strip Method). West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.
6. [6] ASTM International. ASTM D3039/D3039M-17. Standard Test Method for Tensile Properties of Polymer Matrix Composite Materials. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International.
7. [7] International Organization for Standardization (ISO). ISO 527-4:2021. Plastics — Determination of Tensile Properties — Part 4: Test Conditions for Isotropic and Orthotropic Fibre-Reinforced Plastic Composites. Geneva: ISO.
8. [8] Scida, D., Aboura, Z., Benzeggagh, M.L., Bocherens, E. A micromechanics model for the 3D elasticity and failure of woven-fibre composite materials. Composites Science and Technology, 59(4), 505–517, 1999. DOI: 10.1016/S0266-3538(98)00115-7

9. [9] Lomov, S.V., Ivanov, D.S., Truong, T.C., Verpoest, I., Baudry, F., Vanden Bosche, K., Xie, H. Experimental methodology of study of damage initiation and development in textile composites in uniaxial tensile test. Composites Science and Technology, 68(12), 2340–2349, 2008. DOI: 10.1016/j.compscitech.2008.04.012
10. [10] Naik, N.K., Shrirao, P. Composite structures under ballistic impact. Composite Structures, 66(1–4), 579–590, 2004. DOI: 10.1016/j.compstruct.2004.05.006
11. [11] Necmettin Erbakan University. Science and Technology Application and Research Center (BİTAM). Available at: https://erbakan.edu.tr/tr/birim/bitam. Accessed: 22 January 2026.
12. [12] Stig, F., Hallström, S. Assessment of the mechanical properties of textile composites using analytical models. Composites Part B: Engineering, 43(6), 2877–2886, 2012. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2012.04.018
13. [13] Zhang, C., Curiel-Sosa, J.L., Bui, T.Q. Modelling and simulation of mechanical behaviour of woven composites: A review. Composite Structures, 184, 109–129, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compstruct.2017.10.073