Abstract Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRPs) are extensively employed to strengthen existing structures because of their several advantages over other strengthening techniques. On the other hand, the premature debonding of FRP reduces its effectiveness in strengthening steel structures. Anchoring FRP composites is an effective solution to delay or even prevent their debonding. Very limited anchorage methods, however, have been introduced for FRP-strengthened steel structures and the need for an effective anchorage system remains. Fan anchor has been validated as one of the remedies against debonding failure in FRP-strengthened concrete structures. Considering the advantages that fan anchors offer, the use of fan anchors for FRP-strengthened steel structures is proposed and evaluated in this paper. Since FRP-steel joints have a different bond-slip law than FRP-concrete joints and the strengthened steel members are prone to buckling-debonding interactions, this study focuses on the efficiency of fan anchors in delaying FRP debonding by assuming that an adequate mechanical connection between the dowel and the steel substrate is provided. Three experimental studies involving shear, flexural and buckling strengthening of steel components were simulated through finite element modelling, and fan anchors were added to the models after validation. The effect of fan anchors on strength, failure mode and FRP's strain distribution of the models was examined. The study showed that the fan anchor was successfully able to delay debonding mode, which increased the strength and ductility and exploited a higher strain capacity of FRP plates.
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