Compressive behavior of extremely low strength concrete confined with low-cost glass FRP composites

Abstract

In this study, a total of 24 cylindrical concrete specimens were constructed and strengthened using locally available and Low-Cost Glass Fiber Reinforced Polymer (LC-GFRPs) composites. The considered research parameters were the strength of un-confined concrete (5 MPa and 15 MPa) and the confinement level (one, two, and three layers of LC-GFRP). The specimens were tested to failure under pure axial compression. The results indicate that LC-GFRPs are very beneficial to modify the ultimate load-carrying capacity and ductility of the confined concrete. In the end, the existing expressions, developed mainly for special purpose traditional FRPs to estimate the ultimate strength and strain of the confined concrete, were utilized to assess their application to the LC-GFRP confined concrete. It was found that all considered models are well capable to estimate the ultimate strength of LC-GFRP confined concrete but those models were not able to accurately predict the ultimate strain of the LC-GFRP confined concrete.