Using Externally Bonded CFRP to Repair a PCCP with Broken Wires under Combined Loads

Abstract

Prestressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP) is widely used for long-distance water pipelines throughout the world. However, prestressing wire breakage is the most common form of PCCP damage. For some pipelines that cannot be shut down, a new technique for in-service PCCP repair by externally bonding the pipe with layers of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) was proposed. A set of three-dimensional finite element models of the repaired PCCP have been proposed and implemented in the ABAQUS software, which took into account the soil pressure, the weight of the PCCP, the weight of the water, and the hydrostatic pressure. The stress–strain features of the PCCP repaired with CFRP of various thicknesses were analyzed. The stress–strain features of different wire breakage rates for the repaired PCCP were also analyzed. The results showed that the strains and stresses decreased at the springline if the PCCP was repaired with CFRP, which improved the operation of the PCCP. It has been found that the wire breakage rates had a significant effect on the strains and stresses of each PCCP component, but CFRP failed to reach its potential tensile strength when other materials were broken.