A PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT OF FRP (FIBER-REINFORCED POLYMER) APPLICATIONS ON REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURAL COLUMNS AND AS A COLUMN STRENGTHENING MATERIAL

Abstract

In construction, repair, retrofitting and rehabilitation of concrete structures is one of the most common construction activities for old buildings. A substantial amount of money has been expended in Singapore for repair and upgrading projects.

In research presented in this dissertation, alternative methods to retrofit damaged concrete columns have been explored. Fiber Reinforced Polymer System has been adopted. FRP wraps are used to fully confine the columns. Hence, the results of 12 circular and 12 square concrete column specimens, which are subjected to axial compressive loading, are presented. The dimensions of circular column specimen are 100mm in diameter and 200mm in height while that of square column specimen are 100mm by 100mm by 300mm in height. Square column specimens are reinforced with mild steel, with four 3mm diameter stirrups of 65 mm spacing, center-to-center (c/c). For circular concrete column specimens, four 6mm diameter mild steel bars are used for reinforcement with 3mm diameter stirrups of 40 mm spacing, center-to-center (c/c), spiraled around the 4 mild steel bars. All of the column specimens are tested with compression test machine loaded and hence tested to failure.

The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of FRP reinforcement in strengthening deficient columns or damaged columns. A strength comparison of the FRP-confined concrete column specimens with the plain reinforced concrete column specimen is conducted. The main variables would be the cross-sectional shape and concrete mix type. From the results of the experiment, it can be concluded that Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer can be used to effectively strengthen the load carrying capacities of the columns. It was found that the strength behavior of FRP-confined concrete columns increases substantially.