Compressive Strength of Concrete Cylinders Confined with CFRP Wraps

Abstract

It is well established that the confinement of concrete with fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) composites can lead to a significant increase in both the compressive strength and ultimate strain of concrete. Most of the studies focused on normal-strength concretes with strengths in the range of 35 to 60 MPa, and research on FRP-confined low-strength concrete has been very limited. This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the compressive strengths of FRP-confined concrete cylinders with unconfined concrete strength in the range of 21 MPa. Different confinement schemes were used to determine the effect of schemes on the compressive strength of concrete. All the cylinders were tested in uniaxial compression to determine the load carrying capacities of the confined and unconfined cylinders. Compressive strength of FRP-confined concrete was enhanced in all confinement schemes indicating that confinement of concrete using CFRP strips is an ef-ficient method to improve strength of concrete.