Abstract:
Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer (BFRP) possesses advantages such as lightweight, high strength, corrosion resistance, and fatigue resistance, making it particularly suitable for structural engineering in environments significantly affected by corrosive factors. Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (PCCP) is a widely used pipeline for water diversion and regulation projects. During subterranean service, PCCP is compromised by complex soil erosion and inevitably experiences corrosion damage to its high-strength steel wire, which increases the risk of pipe failure due to broken wires and complicates project safety. To address this issue, the research team proposes replacing high-strength steel wire with BFRP reinforcement, thereby creating a new type of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer Prestressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe (BPCCP) to enhance pipeline safety and durability. By conducting tensile strength tests on BFRP reinforcement with varying bending diameters, the study investigates the degradation patterns of BFRP tensile strength and determines the reduction coefficient of the tensile strength of BFRP under bending conditions. The results indicate that BFRP bars exhibit predominantly elastic deformation in a straight condition without a plastic yield plateau, and the final fracture is classified as brittle failure, with an average tensile strength of 1,274.3 MPa and an average elastic modulus of 49.3 GPa. In the bent state, the tensile stress–strain curve of BFRP bars maintains a linear relationship, and the failure mode remains brittle fracture, largely consistent with that in the straight state. Most fractures occur in a laminar manner, particularly at the same interfacial layer. The interlaminar fracture surfaces are smooth, and no significant difference in elastic modulus is observed compared with the straight condition. The ultimate tensile strength in the bent state shows a marked reduction compared with the straight state, and as the bending diameter decreases, the tensile strength of the bars is increasingly influenced by the resin properties and fiber shear capacities. Specifically, when the bending diameters are 4.0, 3.6, 3.2, 2.8, and 2.2 m, the average ultimate tensile strengths of the BFRP bars are 1,128.766, 1,098.514, 1,050.418, 990.119, and 897.999 MPa, respectively, representing a reduction of 11.42% to 29.53% compared with the straight state. The corresponding strength reduction coefficients range from
0.7047 to
0.8858, exhibiting an exponential distribution with respect to the bending diameter. For instance, with a bending diameter of 2.8 m, the bending tensile strength of the BFRP bars decreases by 22.3% compared with the straight state. As the bending diameter approaches a sufficiently large value, the tensile strength of the bars converges toward the straight ultimate tensile strength, and the strength reduction coefficient approaches 1. Theoretical analysis further indicates that applying BFRP reinforcement in a flexible state requires design based on the outer side as the control section. The stress difference between the outer side and the axis in the bending state is directly proportional to d/2R, where d represents the reinforcement diameter and R the radius of curvature. The proportionality coefficient is the elastic modulus of BFRP reinforcement. For instance, with a bending diameter of 4.0 m, when loaded to a certain stress level, the outer side experiences significantly greater strain than the mid-axis. At failure, the strain on the outer side is, on average, 857.9 microstrain higher than that at the mid-axis. The tensile strength reduction coefficient formula, proposed through statistical methods, can accurately predict the ultimate tensile strength of 7 mm BFRP reinforcement under experimental conditions with bending diameters of 2.2 m and above, thereby providing an experimental basis for the design and optimization of new BPCCP structures.