Simulation of CFRP strengthened butt-welded Very High Strength

The debonding failure of CFRP strengthened butt-welded VHS tubes under static tension loading was simulated using finite element method. Material properties of the parent metal, the heat-affected-zone (HAZ), the carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) and epoxy were taken into account. The traction separation law of the cohesive zone model was used to simulate the debonding between CFRP and the VHS tube during the non-linear analysis process. The influence of CFRP bond length on the load carrying capacity was studied. The ultimate loads from the FE model were compared to those obtained from the experiments.