Strengthening and Rehabilitation of Concrete Structures with Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP)

Advanced composite material for strengthening and rehabilitation of Concrete structures are more frequently used these days mainly due to change in the serviceability parameters, refined analysis and design philosophies. However the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymers (CFRP) have many advantages as compared to other such material in terms of small additional weight, faster mode of application, less effect over the architectural components and no corrosion of material. In this research eight beams of size 7in x 12in (18 cm x 30 cm) and 9 feet (23 cm) span were cast such that six beams were retrofitted with CFRP strips of various dimensions and points of applications. The beams were tested under two point load and the results of retrofitted beams were compared with the beams with no CFRP. The results have shown considerable improvement in the flexural capacity of the retrofitted beams and corresponding decrease in the deflection for the same values of load. It has been observed that the geometry and area of retrofitting material has direct bearing on the improvement in the load carrying capacity of beams.