Development of Fiber-Reinforced Cement-Based Composite Sheets for Structural Retrofit

Abstract

In recent years, advanced fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites have been steadily developed and used in a wide spectrum of infrastructure applications. It is, however, recognized that many polymer resins soften rapidly when heated above 82°C (180°F) . Hence fire vulnerability may become a future obstacle with the widespread use of FRP materials. In this paper, initial findings from an on-going project, aimed at developing temperature-resistant cement-based composite sheets for structural retrofit, were reported. Following a similar installation procedure to that of FRP sheets, it is essential to examine the effect of mix compositions on the rheological properties of the cement slurry and to develop suitable cement slurries for making thin fiber-reinforced cement sheets on the job sites. Retrofit efficiency of using both epoxy-based and cement-based thin sheets is investigated. Preliminary results are presented and discussed in this paper. It is confirmed that cement sheets could be very likely made in situ and provide a similar retrofit capacity to their FRP counterparts.