Effect of aggressive marine environment on strain efficiency factor of FRP-confined concrete

• Published in: Construction & building materials Vol. 222; pp. 882 - 891
• Main Authors: Kashi, Amin, Ramezanianpour, Ali Akbar, Moodi, Faramarz, Malekitabar, Hassan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 20.10.2019
• Subjects: Compressive member; Durability; Finite element model; FRP; Marine environment; Strain efficiency factor; Marine environment; Durability; Strain efficiency factor; Finite element model; FRP; Compressive member
• ISSN: 0950-0618; 1879-0526
• DOI: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2019.07.055

•Influence of aggressive marine environments on durability and confinement efficiency of FRP-confined concretes is investigated.•Degradation in mechanical properties of FRP sheets and FRP-confined concretes is found in aggressive marine environments.•The strain efficiency factor can be as a function of environmental condition. In order to find effective confining pressure in concrete members externally wrapped with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) jackets, different values of the so-called strain efficiency factor have been suggested by several researchers. In this paper, the durability of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Polymer (CFRP) and Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) sheets in aggressive marine environment is assessed, and the effect of such environments on the strain efficiency factor in compressive members is investigated. A set of 3D finite element analyses (FEA) are performed to find the strain efficiency factor. The strain efficiency factor of GFRP jackets is lower than that of CFRP jackets in different environmental conditions. Furthermore, the strain efficiency factor decreases as the exposure time increases, which is more evident in GFRP-wrapped concrete. After 3000 and 9000 h of marine exposure, the strain efficiency factors decrease by 11% and 43%, respectively, in GFRP jackets. In CFRP-wrapped members, the reduction is about 18% and 25%, respectively.