• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.9 no.6
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• pp.597-610
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• 2020

Stress-strain models of fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) confined concrete have been widely investigated; however, the existing load which is always supported by structures during the retrofitting phase, namely 'preload', has been neglected. Thus, preload effects should be clarified, providing insightful information for FRP retrofitting of structures with preload conditions. Towards this aim, experiments were performed for 27 cylinder concrete specimens with the diameter 150 mm and the height 300 mm. Three specimens were used to test the compressive strength of concrete to compute the preloads 20%, 30% and 40% of the average strength of these specimens. Other 24 specimens were divided into 2 groups; each group included 4 subgroups. Four subgroups were subjected to the above preloads and no preload, and were then wrapped by 2 FRP layers. Similar designation is applied to group 2, but wrapped by 3 FRP layers. All specimens were tested under axial compression to failure. Explosive failure is found to be the characteristic of specimens wrapped by FRP. Experimental results indicated that the preload decreases 12-13% the elastic and second stiffness of concrete specimens wrapped by 2 FRP layers. The stiffness reduction can be mitigated by the increase of FRP layers. Preload negligibly reduces the ultimate force and unclearly affects the ultimate displacement probably due to complicated cracks developed in concrete. A mechanism of preload effects is presented in the paper. Finally, to take into account preload effects, a modification of the widely used model of un-preload FRP confined concrete is proposed and the modified model demonstrated with a reasonable accuracy.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.5
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• pp.673-689
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• 2021

This paper addresses the efficiency of thermal insulation layers applied to protect structural elements strengthened by fiber-reinforced polymers (FRP) in the case of fire event. The paper presents numerical modeling and nonlinear analysis of reinforced concrete (RC) columns externally strengthened by FRP and protected by thermal insulation layers when subjected to elevated temperature specified by standard fire tests, in order to predict their residual capacity and fire endurance. The adopted numerical approach uses commercial software includes heat transfer, variation of thermal and mechanical properties of concrete, steel reinforcement, FRP and insulation material with elevated temperature. The numerical results show good agreement with published results of full-scale fire tests. A parametric study was conducted to investigate the influence of several variables on the structural response and residual capacity of insulated FRP-confined columns loaded by service loads when exposed to fire. The residual capacity of FRP-confined RC column was affected by concrete grade and insulation material and was shown to improve substantially by increasing the concrete cover and insulation layer thickness. By increasing the VG insulation layer thickness 15, 32, 44, 57 mm, the loss in column capacity after 5 hours of fire was 30%, 13%, 7% and 5%, respectively. The obtained results demonstrate the validity of the presented approach for estimation of fire endurance and residual strength, as an alternative for fire testing, and for design of fire protection layers for FRP-confined RC columns.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.361-371
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• 2010

Enhancement in the seismic buckling capacity of steel tanks caused by the addition of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) retrofit layers attached to the outer walls of the steel tank is investigated. Three-dimensional non-linear finite element modeling is utilized to perform such analysis considering non linear material properties and non-linear large deformation large strain analysis. FRP composites which possess high stiffness and high failure strength are used to reduce the steel hoop stress and consequently improve the tank capacity. A number of tanks with varying dimensions and shell thicknesses are examined using FRP composites added in symmetric layers attached to the outer surface of the steel shell. The FRP shows its effectiveness in carrying part of the hoop stresses along with the steel before steel yielding. Following steel yielding, the FRP restrains the outward bulging of the tank and continues to resist higher hoop stresses. The percentage improvement in the ultimate base moment capacity of the tank due to the addition of more FRP layers is shown to be as high as 60% for some tanks. The percentage of increase in the tank moment capacity is shown to be dependent on the ratio of the shell thickness to the tank radius (t/R). Finally a new methodology has been explained to calculate the location of Elephant foot buckling and consequently the best location of FRP application.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.23 no.5
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• pp.495-506
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• 2019

This paper presents the results of axial pressure testing on reinforced concrete columns (RCCs) filled with confined normal concrete (NC) and high-strength concrete (HSC) using glass-fiber reinforced plastic pipes (GRP) casing as well as fiber reinforced polymer (FRP). This study aims to evaluate the behavior and mechanical properties of columns confined with GRP casing and FRP wrapping under pressure loads. The major parameters in the experiments were the type of concrete, the effect of GRP casing and FRP wrapping, as well as the number of FRP layers. 12 cylindrical RCCs (150*600) mm were prepared and divided into two groups, NC and HSC, and each group was divided into two parts. In each part, one column was without FRP strengthening layer, a column was wrapped with one FRP layer and another column with two FRP layers. All columns were tested under concentrated compression load. The results of the study showed that the utilization of FRP wrapping and GRP casing improved compression capacity and ductility of RCCs. The addition of one and two layers-FRP wrapping increased compression capacity in the NC group to an average of 18.5% and 26.5% and to an average of 10.2% and 24.8% in the HSC group. Meanwhile, the utilization of GRP casing increased the compression capacity of the columns by 4 times in the NC group and 3.38 times in the HSC group. The results indicated that although both FRP wrapping and GRP casing result in confinement, the GRP casing resulted in increased compression capacity and ductility of the RCCs due to higher confinement. Furthermore, the confinement effect was higher on columns made with NC.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.187-200
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• 2018

This paper handles the repairing of deficient square Concrete-Filled Steel-Tube (CFST) beams subject to bending through an experimental and numerical program. Eight square-CFST beams were tested. A 5-mm artificial notch was induced at mid-span of seven beams, four of them were repaired by using CFRP sheets and two were repaired by using GFRP sheets. The beam deflection, strain and ultimate moments were recorded. It was found that providing different cut-off points for the different layers of FRP sheets prohibited failure at termination points due to stress concentrations. Using different lengths of FRP sheets around the notch retarded crack propagation and prevented FRP rupture at the crack position. Finite element analysis was then conducted and the proposed FE model was verified against the recorded experimental data. The influence of various parameters as FRP sheet length, tensile modulus and the number of layers were studied. The moment capacity of damaged square-CFST beams was improved up to 77.6% when repaired by using four layers of CFRP, however, this caused a dramatic decrease in beam deflection. U-wrapping of notched-CFST beam with 0.75 of its length provided a comparable behaviour as wrapping the full length of the beam.

• Advances in concrete construction
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• v.15 no.5
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• pp.321-331
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• 2023

The effect of fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) strengthening on the behaviour of reinforced concrete (RC) beams with web openings is studied. It has been observed that the load-carrying capacity and deflection in the presence of an opening reduced by approximately 50% and 75%, respectively. Three-dimensional nonlinear finite models are first validated with the results obtained from experimental data. Thereafter, a series of parametric studies are conducted for the beam with an opening. In the study, it is observed that a square opening shape is critical in comparison to the elliptical and circular-shaped opening. The web opening located near the support is found to be critically compared to the opening in the middle of the beam. Given the critical opening shape situated at the critical location, the increase in FRP layers enhances the load-deformation behaviour of the FRP-wrapped RC beam. However, the load-deformation responses are not significantly improved beyond a certain threshold value of FRP layers.

• Journal of the Korea Concrete Institute
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• v.16 no.1 s.79
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• pp.61-69
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• 2004

The bridge piers under service suffered a brittle failure due to the deterioration of lap-spliced longitudinal reinforcement without developing its flexural capacity or ductility. The earthquake induced lateral force results in tension which causes bond-slip failure at the lap-spliced region in circular bridge piers. In this case, such a brittle failure can be controlled by the seismic retrofit using FRP laminated circular tube. The retrofitted piers using FRP laminated circular tube showed significant improvement in seismic performance due to FRP's confinement effect. This paper presents the analytical results on the seismic strengthening effect of circular bridge piers with poor lap-splice details and strengthened with FRP laminated circular tube. FRP's confinement effect is predicted by the classical elasticity solution for the laminated circular tube manufactured with several layers. The FRP laminated circular tube induces the flexural failure instead of a bond-slip failure of the circular reinforced concrete piers under seismic induced lateral forces. To investigate the correctness and effectiveness of analytical solution derived in this study, the analytical results were compared with the experimental data and it was confirmed that the results were correlated well each other, The effects on the confinement of FRP laminated circular tube, such as the number of layers, the fiber orientations, and the mechanical properties, were investigated. From the parametric study, it was found that the number of layers, the fiber orientations, and the major Young's modulus (E11) of the FRP laminated circular tube were the dominant parameters affecting the confinement of reinforced concrete circular bridge piers.

• International Journal of Concrete Structures and Materials
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.115-133
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• 2017

To investigate the effectiveness of using fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets in confining heat-damaged columns, 15 circular RC column specimens were tested under axial compression. The effects of heating duration, stiffness and thickness of the FRP wrapping sheets were examined. Two specimen groups, six each, were subjected to elevated temperatures of $500^{\circ}C$ for 2 and 3 h, respectively. Eight of the heat-damaged specimens were wrapped with unidirectional carbon and glass FRP sheets. Test results confirmed that elevated temperatures adversely affect the axial load resistance and stiffness of the columns while increasing their ductility and toughness. Full wrapping with FRP sheets increased the axial load capacity and toughness of the damaged columns. A single layer of the carbon sheets managed to restore the original axial resistance of the columns heated for 2 h yet, two layers were needed to restore the axial resistance of columns heated for 3 h. Glass FRP sheets were found to be less effective; using two layers of glass sheets managed to restore the axial load carrying capacity of columns heated for 2 h only. Confining the heat-damaged columns with FRP circumferential wraps failed in recovering the original axial stiffness of the columns. Test results confirmed that FRP-confining models adopted by international design guidelines should address the increased confinement efficiency in heat-damaged circular RC columns.

• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.77 no.1
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• pp.137-149
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• 2021

In engineering design, the axial equivalent elastic modulus of laminated FRP pipe was mostly calculated by the average elastic modulus method or the classical laminated plate theory method, which are based on relatively simplified assumptions, and may be not accurate enough sometimes. A new analytical calculation method for the axial equivalent elastic modulus of laminated FRP pipe was established based on three-dimensional stress state. By comparing the results calculated by this method with those by the above two traditional analytical methods and the finite element method, it is found that this method for the axial equivalent elastic modulus fits well not only for thin-walled pipes with orthotropic layers, but also for thick-walled pipes with arbitrary layers. Besides, the influence of the layer stacking on the axial equivalent elastic modulus was studied with this method. It is found that a proper content of circumferential layer is beneficial for improving the axial equivalent elastic modulus of the laminated FRP pipe with oblique layers, and then can reduce its material quantity under the premise that its axial stiffness remains unchanged. Finally, the meso-mechanical mechanism of this effect was analyzed. The improving effect of circumferential layer on the axial equivalent elastic modulus of the laminated FRP pipe with oblique layers is mainly because that, the circumferential fibers can restrain the rigid body rotations of the oblique fibers, which tend to cause the significant deformations of the pipe wall units and the relatively low axial equivalent elastic modulus of the pipe.

• Proceedings of the Korea Concrete Institute Conference
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• 2002.05a
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• pp.793-798
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• 2002

This paper presents the analytical results on the seismic retrofit of circular bridge columns with poor lap-splice details using FRP jacket. The as-built column suffered brittle failure due to the deterioration of lap-spliced longitudinal reinforcement without developing its flexural capacity or ductility. The retrofitted columns using FRP jacket showed significant improvement in seismic performance due to FRP's confinement effect. FRP's confinement effect is predicted by the classical elasticity solution for the laminated circular tube manufactural with several layers, and induces the flexural failure instead of bondslip failure.