Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) is used for structural strengthening of concrete and masonry structures. FRP is a composite material that is made up of fiber (carbon or glass) and an epoxy resin. FRP composites are designed to meet critical industry and engineering requirements for strength and durability.
These FRP composite materials include:
- Carbon Fiber Strips
- Carbon Fiber Fabrics
- Glass Fiber Fabrics
- Carbon and Glass Fiber Rods
The reasons for strengthening of reinforced concrete structures are numerous:
- Change of building use
- Increased live and wheel loads
- Installation of heavy machinery
- Modifications to a building such as elimination of walls/columns or openings cut through slabs
- Code changes
- Structural damage
- Corrosion of steel reinforcements
- Errors in design or construction
FRP composites are commonly used in the engineering/construction industry today because of the number of distinct advantages for structural strengthening:
- Lightweight
- Non-corrosive
- Very high tensile strength
- Easy to handle
- Low in place installation costs
- Minimal or no structure downtime
- Economical to use
FRP is used for a number of structural strengthening applications:
- Columns and tanks – confinement/flexure/shear strengthening
- Beams – Flexure/shear strengthening
- Slabs – flexure/bending moment strengthening
- Walls – in and out of plane strengthening