Use of Fibre Reinforced Polymers (FRP) in concrete structures: A critical appraisal

Abstract

If properly designed, constructed and maintained, reinforced or prestressed concrete structures generally have service lifes of 50 years and more. Nevertheless, durability problems often occur, among which corrosion of steel, especially for concrete structures in aggressive environments. Fibre reinforced polymers (FRP) appeared as non-metallic reinforcement for concrete structures about 25 years ago. Basically they were conceived as an alternative for the traditional reinforcing and prestressing steels which frequently cause damage to concrete structures due to gradual corrosion. Although quite expensive, it was expected that on a life-time basis, their application could turn out to be economic. However, practice shows that applications of FRP as ordinary reinforcement or as prestressing tendons are limited to demonstration projects and that mainly external bonding of CFRP strips or sheets has become a widely accepted strengthening technique [1-10]. In the paper, the evolution in the use of FRP for concrete structures is given, different features are analyzed and a critical appraisal of material and structural behaviour is given.