Corroded steel beams with various corrosion aspect ratios – A rehabilitation technique using basalt fibre fabric

Abstract

As the structural integrity of North America’s aging infrastructure decreases, there is an urgent need for finding new and cost-effective methods for rehabilitating these structures. Previous studies showed that Carbon Fibre Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) and Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) are effective in rehabilitating steel and concrete structures. In the current research, the feasibility of Basalt Fibre Reinforced Polymer (BFRP) in rehabilitating steel beams with various corrosion shapes was evaluated. Both experimental and finite element methods were used in this study. The current study found that BFRP is effective in increasing the yield and ultimate load capacities of steel beams that have developed corrosion defect of various aspect ratios. The findings also indicated that the ductility of the rehabilitated beams is lower than that of the undamaged beam, however, the ductility of the rehabilitated beams increases with increasing number of BFRP layers. The structural behavior of rehabilitated steel beams including the complex behavior of rupture in the BFRP was successfully modelled using a commercially available finite element software. A good correlation between finite element models and the experimental results was obtained. Validated finite element models were used to obtain a design equation that can be used to determine the optimum BFRP layers required to completely restore the ultimate load capacity of the steel beams corroded with various shapes.