Abstract
Confinement of reinforced concrete (RC) piers generally has a beneficial effect on both the compressive strength and the ductility of the confined member. Thus, externally-bonded fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) wrapping is often used as a retrofit technique for bridge piers when additional compressive strength is needed. This study employs finite element analysis and a recently developed FRP-and-steel confined concrete model to investigate the influence of internal steel confinement on the response of circular RC columns confined with FRP and subject to concentric axial load. This new model leads to more accurate estimates of the response of these columns, what is particularly relevant for piers in short span bridges that are subjected mainly to vertical loads, for which it could lead to a more efficient and economical piers’ retrofit, as well as a more accurate and less conservative bridge rating. A parametric study is conducted to examine the importance of some key parameters in the design of such columns.
Highlights
Retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge pier is an often-needed procedure, especially for piers of older bridges
From the results reported in Error! Reference source not found., it is observed that confinement with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) has a significant effect on the compressive strength of the columns
This paper investigated the effects of internal steel confinement on the compressive strength of circular RC columns confined with externally-bonded FRP
Summary
Retrofit of reinforced concrete (RC) bridge pier is an often-needed procedure, especially for piers of older bridges. Zignago et al [4] conducted an extensive comparison of numerical simulations performed using the Spoelstra-Monti and FRP-and-steel models to predict the load-carrying capacity of 46 axially-loaded FRP-confined RC columns, for which experimental results from nine different authors were available in the literature. Zignago et al [4] demonstrated that the FRP-and-steel model can achieve high accuracy in estimating the compressive strength of FRP-confined RC columns at a low computational cost when used in conjunction with fibersection force-based elements This model is suited for the modeling of large-scale structures, such as bridges, due to its excellent combination of accuracy and low computational cost. This paper briefly describes the proposed FRP-and-steel confined concrete constitutive model and presents the results of a parametric study performed to investigate the effects of core concrete steel confinement on the axial strength of RC columns retrofitted with externally-bonded FRP wraps
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