Behaviour of FRP reinforced columns Kingston University in United Kingdom

Fibre reinforced polymers (FRPs) in the form of laminates and sheets have become popular in the last few decades as a solution for strengthening of existing structures to increase their capacity. More recently FRP bars have been used as internal reinforcement in reinforced concrete elements to eliminate the corrosion problems that could occur with steel rebars. Beams and slabs reinforced with glass FRP and basalt FRP have been investigated and demonstrate the potential of replacing the steel in elements that are exposed to harsh environments.

The project aims to study the behaviour of FRP reinforced concrete columns under concentric and eccentric loading. The stability of FRP bars under compression, influence of reinforcement ratio and Young’s modulus will be investigated experimentally.

The proposed research will allow optimising the design and reinforcing of RC columns with FRP reinforcing longitudinal bars and links. Most of the experimental data for calibration and verification of the theoretical models will be collected from the existing literature and experiments already conducted in Kingston University. Verified Finite Elements (FE) Models will be used to conduct parametric studies aiming to assess the influence of different factors on the effectiveness of the reinforcement.

The results and conclusions will be beneficial for structural engineering practices in UK and abroad and could provide the practitioners with an effective alternative in cases where the structural elements can be subjected to a severe environment.