Externally bonded (EB) or Near-Surface-Mounted (NSM) composite reinforcements are
often bonded to a cementitious substrate by means of commercially available epoxies. These twocomponent-
resins are generally ‘cold-curing’ (at room temperature), having however the ability to cure
faster under elevated temperatures. One application requesting such an accelerated curing process is the
gradient anchorage for strengthening of concrete structures with prestressed CFRP laminates, based on a
purely concrete/epoxy/CFRP connection without any mechanical devices.
This paper resumes the investigation on several crucial thermo-mechanical parameters of different epoxy
resins, such as glass-transition temperatures, directional tensile strength and elastic modulus. It is for
instance demonstrated that an accelerated curing process or an increasing specimen age implicate a higher
glass transition temperature. Strength and stiffness development is faster in case high temperatures are
applied; the final values with growing age however are below the ones for specimens cured only at room
temperature. Initial mixing under vacuum on the other hand induces higher strength and stiffness values.
Eventually, it is shown that an accelerated curing of a cold-curing epoxy increases the porosity of the
latter, possibly implying durability issues
