An Experimental Study on the Compressive Behavior of CFRP-Confined High- and Ultra High-Strength Concrete

Abstract

It is well established that external confinement of concrete with fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets results in significant improvements on the axial compressive behavior of concrete. This understanding has led to a large number of experimental studies being conducted over the last two decades. However, the majority of these studies have focused on normal strength concretes (NSC) with compressive strengths lower than 55 MPa, and studies on higher strength concretes have been very limited. This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the compressive behavior of FRP confined high- and ultra high-strength concrete (HSC and UHSC) with average compressive strengths of 65 and 100 MPa. A total of 29 specimens were tested under axial compression to investigate the influence of key parameters such as concrete strength and method of confinement. All specimens were cylindrical, confined with carbon FRP and were 305 mm in height and 152 mm in diameter. Results obtained from the laboratory testing were graphically presented in the form of axial stress-strain relationships and key experimental outcomes are discussed. The results of this experimental study indicate that above a certain confinement threshold, FRP-confined HSC and UHSC exhibit highly ductile behavior. The results also indicate that FRP-wrapped specimens perform similar to concrete-filled FRP tube (CFFT) specimens at ultimate condition, however notable differences are evident at the transition region when comparing stress-strain curves.