Development of anchorage systems for strengthening of steel plates with iron-based shape memory alloy strips

The aim of this study is to propose a series of mechanical anchorage system for strengthening of steel plates with iron-based shape memory (Fe-SMA) strips. Four different friction-based mechanical clamps to anchor the Fe-SMA strips to the steel substrate were designed and tested. A finite element model (FEM) was implemented to perform a stress analysis to optimize the dimensions of each anchorage system. An analytical approach to estimate the load carrying capacity of each clamping system was developed. The results of the analytical and numerical study were then compared with those obtained from experiments. It was found that the performance of the SMA-to-steel joints is mainly dependent on the effective cross-section of the Fe-SMA strip inside the anchorage system as well as the number and the preloading level of the clamp bolts.