Creep and damage of an adhesive anchor system by accelerated testing and modeling

An accelerated testing and modeling method was proposed and implemented to predict the long-term performance through short-term pullout tests of a cylindrical anchor core by tensile loading at different elevated testing temperatures. Dimensional analysis was conducted to predict the creep behavior of adhesive anchor systems by small-scale tests. By using the frequency-temperature superposition principle, the master curves of the complex and storage moduli were generated in the Prony series form. By performing inverse numerical Laplace transformation, the creep compliance of the adhesive in the time domain was calculated and then used in the viscoelastic analysis of the adhesive anchor system. To validate the model, six adhesive anchor samples with different sizes of hole diameter and depth were fabricated and creep tests were then conducted at different temperatures. Overall, the test results agree well with the theoretical ones using the adhesive’s viscoelastic properties. An accelerated test protocol was further established for the long-term performance analysis of the adhesive anchor systems. The error sources of the experiments were discussed. Because of the generality of the formulation and testing mechanism, the present test method is applicable to the design and analysis of different types and sizes of adhesive anchor systems.