Strengthening/Retrofitting Strategy of Externally Bonded GFRP Composites
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Abstract
The primary goal of the planned experimental inquiry is to determine if externally bonded GFRP composites may be used to refit slightly damaged R.C.C. frames and reinforce seismically weak R.C.C. frames. The efficacy of GFRP composites wrapped around R.C.C. columns and R.C.C. beams in flexure and shear zones will also be examined. To compare the flexure behavior of the beams wrapped in GFRP composites to the unwrapped beams, twenty-one flexure beams intended to fail in flexure were cast and tested in group II beams. The remaining three beams acted as reference beams for this category of beams, while nine of the twenty one flexure beams were strengthened and nine more were retrofitted utilizing GFRP composites in three distinct wrapping patterns. In order to compare the shear behavior of the beams with GFRP composites to that of the unwrapped beams, nine shear beams intended to fail in shear were cast and evaluated for group III beams. The remaining three beams acted as reference beams for this category of beams while three of the nine shear beams were strengthened and another three refitted utilizing GFRP composites.
To compare the load carrying capability of these columns to that of the other nine, three of the nine columns were strengthened, while another three were retrofitted with GFRP composites. The remaining three columns acted as this category's control columns and were unwrapped columns. In order to evaluate the efficiency of GFRP composites in load carrying capacity, three of the nine frame specimens were strengthened, and another three were retrofitted using GFRP composites. The remaining three frames acted as control frames for this category. In order to model the behavior of R.C.C. beams and R.C.C. frames with and without GFRP composites wrapping, numerical analysis was also carried out using the finite element tool ABAQUS. The findings were then compared with experimental data.