PSI - Issue 84

Emeka John Ude et al. / Procedia Structural Integrity 84 (2026) 1294–1301

1301

campaign the study established that FRCM retrofitting can significantly alter the failure mode and improve the ultimate capacity of a half joint with corroded reinforcements. In addition, this study established that the localized uniform corrosion in the internal reinforcements can change the global failure response of the half joint from ductile to brittle failure mode. This is essentially because due corrosion induced bond slip implementation, there exist a combined effect of reduced ductility and partial exploitation of the reinforcement strengths. However, the study has shown that ductile behaviour can be restored following FRCM strengthening which is essentially as a result of load redistribution in the between the corroded internal reinforcement and FRCM. This results in the FRCM carrying a much larger fraction of the demand and producing a proportionally greater gain. While this study focused on laboratory-scale half-joint specimens, it provides encouraging evidence for the effectiveness of such FE modelling methods for FRCM strengthening of half joints. Further studies are however needed to generalize and validate these findings - especially in the aspect of the use of more than two layers of FRCM considering the possibility of debonding in real case scenarios. It is recommended that future work is developed to address the following: Applying the modelling approach to full scale Gerber girder; For identical specimens, comparing FRCM strengthening with alternative solutions and document how the failure ultimate capacities differ; Replacing deterministic, uniform corrosion assumptions with spatially variable corrosion models and probabilistic Bertagnoli, G., Ferrara, M., Giordano, L., & Malavisi, M. (2023). Preliminary Investigation on Steel Jacketing Retrofitting of Concrete Bridges Half-Joints. Applied Sciences , 13 (14), 8181. https://doi.org/10.3390/app13148181 Blomfors, M., Zandi, K., Lundgren, K., & Coronelli, D. (2018). Engineering bond model for corroded reinforcement. Engineering Structures , 156 , 394–410. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.engstruct.2017.11.030 Di Benedetto, M., Di Trapani, F., Sberna, A. P., Villar, S., Ferrara, M., & Bertagnoli, G. (2025). Numerical Modeling of Dapped-End Beams Subjected to Corrosion and Retrofitting Interventions. In X. Lu, C. Demartino, F. Di Trapani, K. Lin, & G. Monti (Eds.), Proceedings of the 2024 Eurasian OpenSees Days (pp. 111–121). Springer Nature Switzerland. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-90690-9_10 Domenico, D. D., Mazzeo, M., Messina, D., Santoro, R., & Recupero, A. (2025). Structural health assessment of concrete half-joint bridges: From load testing to FEM simulation accounting for material uncertainties. Structure and Infrastructure Engineering , 0 (0), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/15732479.2025.2468199 Flores Ferreira, K., Rampini, M. C., Belletti, B., Calcavecchia, B., Camata, G., D’Angela, D., Di Salvatore, C., Di Stefano, N., Faccin, E., Ferretti, D., Granata, M. F., Iavarone, F., La Mendola, L., Magliulo, G., Martinelli, P., Menichini, G., Messina, D., Minelli, F., Orlando, M., … di Prisco, M. (2025). Reinforced concrete dapped-end beams for existing bridges: Reliability of finite element models. Structural Concrete , n/a (n/a). https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.202400365 Flores Ferreira, K., Rampini, M. C., Zani, G., Colombo, M., & Di Prisco, M. (2023). Experimental investigation on the use of F ABRIC ‐ R EINFORCED Cementitious Mortars for the retrofitting of reinforced concrete dapped‐end beams. Structural Concrete , 24 (4), 4577–4605. https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.202200743 Granata, M. F., La Mendola, L., Messina, D., & Recupero, A. (2022). Assessment and strengthening of reinforced concrete bridg es with half‐ joint deterioration. Structural Concrete , 24 (1), 269–287. https://doi.org/10.1002/suco.202200367 Leone, M., Aiello, M. A., Balsamo, A., Carozzi, F. G., Ceroni, F., Corradi, M., Gams, M., Garbin, E., Gattesco, N., Krajewski, P., Mazzotti, C., Oliveira, D., Papanicolaou, C., Ranocchiai, G., Roscini, F., & Saenger, D. (2017). Glass fabric reinforced cementitious matrix: Tensile properties and bond performance on masonry substrate. Composites Part B: Engineering , 127 , 196–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compositesb.2017.06.028 Lin, H., Zhao, Y., Feng, P., Ye, H., Ozbolt, J., Jiang, C., & Yang, J.-Q. (2019). State-of-the-art review on the bond properties of corroded reinforcing steel bar. Construction and Building Materials , 213 , 216–233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.04.077 Lundgren, K., Kettil, P., Hanjari, K. Z., Schlune, H., & Roman, A. S. S. (2012). Analytical model for the bond-slip behaviour of corroded ribbed reinforcement. Structure and Infrastructure Engineering , 8 (2), 157–169. https://doi.org/10.1080/15732470903446993 McKenna, F. (2011). OpenSees: A Framework for Earthquake Engineering Simulation. Computing in Science & Engineering , 13 (4), 58–66. https://doi.org/10.1109/MCSE.2011.66 Petracca, M., Candeloro, F., & Camata, G. (2017). ASDEA Software STKO user manual [Computer software]. Picciano, V., Santarsiero, G., Masi, A., & Ventura, G. (2024). Review and analysis of RC bridge half-joints strengthening techniques. Procedia Structural Integrity , 62 , 1020–1027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.prostr.2024.09.136 Quadri, A. I., & Fujiyama, C. (2021). Numerical analysis of RC Gerber bridge girder subjected to fatigue loading. In Bridge Maintenance, Safety, Management, Life-Cycle Sustainability and Innovations . Taylor & Francis Group, London. http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9780429279119-366 Rosso, M. M., Asso, R., Aloisio, A., Di Benedetto, M., Cucuzza, R., & Greco, R. (2022). Corrosion effects on the capacity and ductility of concrete half-joint bridges. Construction and Building Materials , 360 , 129555. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2022.129555 Santarsiero, G., & Picciano, V. (2023). Durability enhancement of half-joints in RC bridges through external prestressed tendons: The Musmeci Bridge’s case study. Case Studies in Construction Materials , 18 , e01813. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cscm.2022.e01813 definitions. References