Abstract

The use of fiber reinforced polymers (FRP) to reinforce and retrofit reinforced concrete (RC) structures has become one of the main
applications of composites in civil engineering. This paper describes a procedure, based on a finite element formulation, that can be used
to perform numerical simulations of RC structures reinforced with FRP. Composites are treated using the serial/parallel mixing theory,
which deduces the composite behavior from the constitutive equations of its components. A new construction-stages algorithm is developed for simulating retrofitted structures. The performance of the proposed formulation is proved comparing numerical and experimental results. Finally, the developed code is used to obtain the optimum FRP reinforcement configuration for a RC frame structure.

Abstract

In open-hole laminates, when a second hole is made, the stresses and the damage evolution are modified. The main failure mechanisms in laminates subjected to compressive loads are fibre microbuckling and matrix breakage. In this work, the influence of the presence of a second hole in these mechanisms is analysed for two distances between holes. The Serial/Parallel Mixing Theory was used to model the elastic behaviour of the material and a Continuum Damage Model to represent the fibre microbuckling and matrix failure. The equations were implemented in a FEM code developed by the authors. The proposed model has been validated with results from the literature for a laminate with two holes positioned transversally to the applied load. In this problem, it was shown that the growth of the fibre damage is different from that of the matrix.  The laminate is damaged mainly in the zone between the holes. When the distance between holes is reduced, both types of damage around the holes increase.

Abstract

Experimental research has shown that one of the key factors affecting the behaviour of reinforced concrete structures strengthened with externally-bonded fibre-reinforced polymer (FRP) is the bonding behaviour between concrete and FRP laminates. As a complement to experimentation, this paper proposed the use of serial/parallel mixing theory in numerical simulation, which is a tool for studying the behaviour of the concrete-FRP epoxy interface. An example is presented which analyses beam test simulation results and compares them with the experimental results.

Abstract

This work proposes a calibration procedure to obtain the material parameters required by the Serial/Parallel Mixing Theory for the analysis of composites. A set of experimental tests are defined to obtain the main composite failure modes. Then, it is proposed to calculate the parameters required by the formulation using the experimental results. The procedure proposed is validated by comparing the numerical results, with those obtained from the experimental campaign. This comparison shows that the Serial/Parallel mixing theory is capable of representing the failure modes of the composite for different loading scenarios as well as the material toughness.