External Fiber-reinforced Polymer Jackets Research Articles

Cyclic axial compressive performance of hybrid double-skin tubular square columns

This paper presents an experimental study on the cyclic axial compressive behavior of FRP-concrete-steel hybrid double-skin tubular columns. The square column specimens were cast with an external Fiber Reinforced Polymer jackets, inner steel tube and concrete in between. The height of the columns was 500 mm and the side dimension was 150 mm. The effects of loading scheme, void ratio and diameter-thickness ratio on axial compression behavior were investigated. A total of eight columns were tested under monotonic and cyclic axial compression. The experimental results show that the effect of loading scheme on axial stress-strain envelope curve and the peak load were not significant, and the ultimate state of the square columns subjected to cyclic axial compression was very similar to that of specimens subjected to monotonic axial compression. Besides, compared with void ratio, the diameter-thickness ratio of the inner steel tube has significant influence on the peak load of the columns when subjected to cyclic axial compression.

Reliable machine learning for the shear strength of beams strengthened using externally bonded FRP jackets

All over the world, shear strengthening of reinforced concrete elements using external fiber-reinforced polymer jackets could be used to improve building sustainability. However, reports issued by the American Concrete Institute called for heavy scrutiny before actual field implementation. The very limited number of proposed shear equations lacks reliability and accuracy. Thus, further investigation in this area is needed. In addition, machine-learning techniques are being implemented successfully to develop strength models for complex problems including shear, flexure, and torsion. This study aims to provide a reliable machine-learning model for reinforced concrete beams strengthened in shear using externally reinforced fiber polymer sheets. The proposed model was developed and validated against the experimental database and the very limited models in existing literature. The model showed better agreement with the experimentally measured strength compared to the previous models, which accounted for the effect of various parameters including but not limited to: the element geometry, strengthening details, and configurations. The model could guide the further developments of design codes and mechanical models.

Experimental and Numerical Study on Seismic Performance of PEN FRP-Jacketed Circular RC Columns

This paper presents an experimental study on the seismic behavior of polyethylene naphthalate (PEN) fiber–reinforced polymer (FRP)-jacketed circular reinforced-concrete (RC) columns. A total of seven specimens were tested under constant axial load and cyclic lateral load. The key parameters studied were the thickness (one, two, and three layers) and type (PEN FRP and CFRP) of FRP jacket. Test results indicated that the control column failed by buckling of the longitudinal reinforcement and shortage of ductility, while concrete spalling and bar buckling were effectively inhibited by the application of external FRP jacket. It is also observed that PEN FRP-jacketed specimens had more additional strain capacity compared with CFRP-jacketed specimens at the final condition. The additional strain capacity can serve as a safety reserve for structures and make PEN FRP more suitable for strengthening large or noncircular columns. Furthermore, it is found that 1-ply PEN FRP and 1-ply CFRP had a similar strengthening effect and thus the design of PEN FRP-strengthened column can simply refer to the design method of CFRP-strengthened columns in current codes. Different FRP thickness and types had marginal impact on the hysteretic curves of the specimens, which was attributed to the low axial load ratio (0.15) and high slenderness ratio (5.25) adopted in this paper. Finally, based on a cyclic stress–strain model for longitudinal reinforcement, including buckling effect, developed by the authors in a previous study, the test columns were simulated by the Open System for Earthquake Engineering Simulation (OpenSee)s to achieve an in-depth understanding of the experimental findings and associated strengthening mechanisms. Further parametric analyses showed that considering bar buckling played a significant role in accurately predicting the hysteretic response of FRP-jacketed columns.

Experimental investigation on axial compressive behavior of fiber reinforced polymer-reinforced concrete columns confined with external fiber reinforced polymer jackets

An innovative glass fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP) closed-type winding (GFRP-CW) tie was developed to eliminate the bond slip failure and make full use of the tensile strength of ties compared with conventional pultruded fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) rod ties. Although better confinement effect of GFRP-CW ties, however after spalling of concrete cover, the compressive longitudinal FRP bars in the plastic hinge regions of columns are most likely to crush or buckle. External FRP jackets can effectively restraint damage to concrete cover. Against this background, a novel FRP-reinforced concrete column confined with external FRP jackets and the internal GFRP-CW ties were proposed to prevent the FRP bars from premature buckling or crushing. In this article, twelve square new columns were constructed and tested to characterize the axial compressive behavior. The test parameters included FRP wrapping type (GFRP or carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP)), FRP wrapping layers, and spacing of ties. Test results confirmed that FRP-reinforced concrete columns with external FRP jackets had significantly larger ductile behavior and exhibited higher load-carrying capacity than their counterparts FRP-reinforced concrete columns due to the contribution of longitudinal GFRP bars and the concrete cover. The test results also suggested reasonable spacing of ties and layers of GFRP jackets for an expected moderate confinement behavior.

Axial behavior of carbon fiber-reinforced polymer–confined recycled aggregate concrete-filled steel tube slender square columns

The behavior of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP)–confined recycled aggregate concrete-filled steel tube (RACFT) columns is barely studied. Especially, that of slender specimens has not been investigated so far. In this article, an experimental test of FRP-confined RACFT slender square columns was conducted to study the influences of recycled aggregate (RA) replacement ratios, FRP thicknesses, and wrapping schemes on their axial behavior. Results in this article suggest that the RA replacement ratio barely affects the initial stiffness of load-deflection curves of specimens. Moreover, the specimen with a higher RA replacement ratio has a lower axial stress but larger strain at the peak point. The external FRP jackets (either partial or full wrap) can effectively improve the performance of axially loaded RACFT columns, and the improvement of ductility due to the increase of the FRP thickness is more significant than that of axial compressive strength. Additionally, it was found that the axial strength and ultimate axial strain decrease with increasing slenderness ratios. Furthermore, the influences of slenderness ratios on the behavior of such columns are more significant for the column with a larger length-to-width ratio. Finally, a design model for FRP-confined RACFT slender square columns is developed, which can predict the results of the present test accurately.

Compressive behavior and modelling of engineered cementitious composite (ECC) confined with LRS FRP and conventional FRP

A combination of core engineered cementitious composite (ECC) and external fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites can solve the problems of insufficient ductility and durability of normal concrete (NC) in adverse environments and improve bearing capacity. However, existing studies on the performance of ECC strengthened by FRP are very limited—particularly the research on large rupture strain (LRS) FRP-confined ECC. In this study, an experimental investigation of LRS FRP and conventional glass FRP-confined ECC cylinders with different confinement levels under axial compression is presented. It is found that the application of external FRP jackets leads to a significant improvement in the compressive strength and deformation of the core ECC. LRS FRP-confined ECC exhibits a higher ultimate deformation than conventional FRP-confined ECC. The dilation behavior, axial stress–strain behavior, and energy dissipation capacity between FRP-confined ECC and FRP-confined NC under the same confinement level are compared, and the former exhibits a significantly larger ductility and energy dissipation capacity than the latter. The results also indicate that most existing models are unable to accurately predict the compressive behavior of FRP-confined ECC. To address this, a dilation model and an axial stress–strain model of FRP-confined NC are modified to extend their application to FRP-confined ECC.

Prediction of Ultimate Strain for Rectangular Reinforced Concrete Columns Confined with Fiber Reinforced Polymers under Cyclic Axial Compression.

This paper investigates the crucial design parameters for the prediction of the ultimate axial compressive deformation of reinforced concrete columns externally confined with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) materials. Numerous test results of available columns with a square and rectangular section under cyclic axial loading were gathered in an advanced database. Herein, the database is enriched with necessary design parameters in order to address the unique tensile strain field variation of the FRP jacket. Since there is a lack of consequent recording of the FRP strain field in existing experiments, three dimensional pseudodynamic finite element analyses results from several characteristic cases of tested columns are utilized to address this gap. Therefore, a hybrid experimental–analytical database is formed, including several critical FRP strains, steel strains and deformations. A modified model is proposed to predict the ultimate axial strain for reinforced concrete columns externally confined with FRP materials. The proposed model aims to address indirectly the effects of the internal steel cage, concrete section shape and of their interaction with the external FRP jacket on the critical tensile strain of the FRP jacket at failure of the column. The predictive performance of the model over the available tests of (reinforced concrete) RC columns under cyclic compression is remarkably improved when compared against the performance of other existing models. It provides predictions with average ratio (AR) of 0.96 and average absolute error (AAE) of 36.5% and therefore may contribute to safer seismic resistant redesign.

Evaluation of FRP Confinement Models for Substandard Rectangular RC Columns Based on Full-Scale Reversed Cyclic Lateral Loading Tests in Strong and Weak Directions.

Although many theoretical and experimental studies are available on external confinement of columns using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) jackets, as well as numerous models proposed for the axial stress-axial strain relation of concrete confined with FRP jackets, they have not been validated with a sufficient amount and variety of experimental data obtained through full-scale tests of reinforced concrete (RC) columns with different geometrical and mechanical characteristics. Particularly, no systematical experimental data have been presented on full-scale rectangular substandard RC columns subjected to reversed cyclic lateral loads along either their strong or weak axes. In this study, firstly, test results of five full-scale rectangular substandard RC columns with a cross-sectional aspect ratio of two (300 mm × 600 mm) are briefly summarized. The columns were tested under constant axial load and reversed cyclic lateral loads along their strong or weak axes before and after retrofitting with external FRP jackets. In the second stage, inelastic lateral force-displacement relationships of the columns are obtained analytically, making use of the plastic hinge assumption and different FRP confinement models available in the literature. Finally, the analytical findings are compared with the test results for both strong and weak directions of the columns. Comparisons showed that use of different models for the stress-strain relationship of FRP-confined concrete can yield significantly non-conservative or too conservative retrofit designs, particularly in terms of deformation capacity.

Axial and lateral stress-strain model for concrete-filled steel tubes with FRP jackets

In a concrete-filled steel tube under axial compression, since the steel tube has a larger Poisson’s ratio than the concrete, delamination at the steel-concrete interface occurs and the steel tube is ineffective in providing confinement at the elastic stage. For resolving this problem and enhancing the concrete confinement, the provision of an external FRP (fiber reinforced polymer) jacket to restrict the lateral expansion of the steel tube is an effective means. Herein, to investigate the effectiveness of FRP-jacketed steel tube confinement, a theoretical model for evaluating the lateral strain, confining stress and axial stress in a concrete-filled steel tube with FRP jacket at various stages of loading is developed. The theoretical model is first applied to analyze specimens tested by other researches to verify its accuracy and then used to work out the FRP confining stiffness required to eliminate steel-concrete delamination and the FRP confining stiffness required to achieve Level I ductility (no strain softening at the inelastic stage until failure).

Seismic Behavior of RC Columns with Bond-Critical Regions: Criteria for Bond Strengthening Using External FRP Jackets

In 2003, an experimental research program was initiated at the American University of Beirut with the objectives of (1) evaluating the effectiveness of external fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) confinement in improving the bond strength of spliced reinforcement in reinforced-concrete (RC) columns and its implications on the lateral load capacity and ductility of the columns under seismic loading; and (2) establishing rational design criteria for bond strengthening of spliced reinforcement using external FRP jackets. This paper presents a discussion of recent experimental results dealing with rectangular columns and the results of a pilot study conducted on circular columns with particular emphasis on aspects related to the bond strength of the spliced column reinforcement. A nonlinear analysis model is developed for predicting the envelope load–drift response, taking into account the effect of FRP confinement on the stress–strain behavior of concrete in compression. Results predicted by the model showed exc...

Seismic FRP Retrofit of Bond-Critical Regions in Circular RC Columns: Validation of Proposed Design Methods

This study experimentally evaluates the effect of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) confinement on the seismic response of circular reinforced concrete columns with spliced reinforcement at the critical hinging regions. A general expression previously was derived and verified for designing the thickness of external FRP jackets required for bond strengthening of spliced reinforcement within the critical hinging region of rectangular column sections. The current study applies the corresponding design expression for circular column sections. Full-scale circular columns with spliced reinforcement were tested under lateral load reversals. Findings show that all of the unconfined columns suffered premature splitting bond failure leading to almost total strength and stiffness degradation. Confining the splice zone with external FRP jackets within the range of thicknesses predicted by the proposed design expression substantially improved seismic performance. The mechanism by which the FRP confinement improves the bond strength of spliced bars in circular columns is similar to that in rectangular columns. Compared with other proposed design methods, the equation under consideration predicts a realistic and conservative jacket thickness and accounts for all parameters that are known to influence the splice strength of steel bars in tension.

Shape and “gap” effects on the behavior of variably confined concrete

Factors affecting the behavior of variably confined concrete are presented. The effect of debonding the fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) jacket to the concrete substrate and providing a gap between the concrete and confining jacket is investigated. A second parameter—the shape of the cross section—is also investigated. An experimental program involving the compression testing of standard cylinders and similarly sized square specimens having external FRP jackets providing passive confinement is presented. Factors affecting jacket efficiency and the appropriateness of factors accounting for specimen shape are determined experimentally and discussed. The provision of a gap affected the axial stress at which the confining jacket was engaged, resulting in a reduced maximum attainable concrete strength. The jacket efficiency was not affected by the provision of the gap. The shape of the specimens was observed to affect the level of confinement generated. Square specimens exhibit lower confinement levels than circular specimens having the same jacket.