Improvement on axial compressive strength of concrete cylinders using BFRP composites

Abstract

The use of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) materials for repair and strengthening has been worldwide all around. The application of Basalt Fiber Reinforced Polymer (BFRP) as a strengthening material for concrete structures is not popular as of now. In order to enrich and enlarge the knowledge on them, an experimental investigation was under taken to investigate the effectiveness of BFRP confined concrete cylinders. In this experimental work all the concrete cylinders confined with three different layers of BFRP were tested. The lateral confinement provided by the BFRP enhances the load carrying capacity of the cylinder confined with three layers. The externally bonded BFRP enhanced the axial deformation control and ultimate load carrying capacity of the confined cylinders. The external bonded BFRP significantly prevented the Poisson’s effect of the concrete by providing confining pressure. A nonlinear equation available in the literature has been used to determine the theoretical load carrying capacity of the BFRP cylinders. The predicted load carrying capacity was reasonably accurate with minimum error of 1.61%. The test result shows the better confinement efficiency of BFRP as a strengthening material.