FRP REINFORCEMENT FOR CONCRETE STRUCTURES: STATE-OF-THE-ART REVIEW OF APPLICATION AND DESIGN

Eugenijus Gudonis,Viktor Gribniak,Edgaras Timinskas,Gintaris Kaklauskas,Vytautas Tamulėnas,Aleksandr K Arnautov

doi:10.3846/2029882x.2014.889274

Abstract

Fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) are considered to be a promising alternative to steel reinforcement, especially in concrete structures subjected to an aggressive environment or to the effects of electromagnetic fields. Although attempts to develop effective reinforcement have been followed, the application of FRPs remains limited by the solution to simple structural problems that mainly appear due to the absence of design codes, significant variation in the material properties of FRP composites and limited knowledge gained by engineers as regards the application aspects of FRP composites and structural mechanics of concrete elements reinforced with FRPs. To fill the latter gap, the current state-of-the-art report is dedicated to present recent achievements in FRPs applying practice to a broad engineers’ community. The report also revises the manufacturing process, material properties, the application area and design peculiarities of concrete elements reinforced with FRP composites. Along the focus on internal reinforcement, the paper overviews recent practices of applying FRP reinforced concrete (RC) elements in structural engineering. The review highlights the main problems restricting the application of FRPs in building industry and reveals the problematic issues (related to the material properties of the FRP) important for designing RC following the formulation of targets for further research.

Highlights

Steel and concrete are the principal materials of the industry of up-to-date construction
Tests on Fiber reinforced polymers (FRPs) materials exposed to UV rays carried out by Kato et al (1997) and Tomosawa et al (1998) have shown AFRP rods having around 13% reduction in tensile strength after 2500 h of exposure, and glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP) rods experiencing 8% reduction after 500 h
On the basis of the performed extensive analysis of literature sources, it can be concluded that for designing FRP reinforced concrete (RC) elements, the main attention should be paid to the following factors: 1. Long-term degradation of mechanical properties

Summary

Introduction

Steel and concrete are the principal materials of the industry of up-to-date construction. The bars of glass fiber reinforced polymers (GFRP) are the most popular among other FRP types due to the combination of relatively low-cost with environmental resistance to structural fibres. Due to high tensile strength and low weight (comparing to conventional steel), FRPs have become an ideal material for use in construction industry. Another advantage of FRP over steel as external reinforcement is easy handling; minimal time and labour are required to implement them. The manuscript revises the manufacturing process, material properties, the application area and design peculiarities of concrete elements reinforced with FRP composites. Considering the use of FRPs for external strengthening of the external reinforcement of other types of concrete elements, Xiong et al (2007), Kim et al (2008a, b), Skuturna et al (2008), Diab et al (2009), and Daugevičius et al (2012) found that additional anchoring was essential in order to assure FRP-to-concrete bond strength

Structural applications

Findings

Conclusions