Sharif Digital Repository

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the behavior of concrete cylinders externally wrapped with fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) composites and internally reinforced with steel spirals. The experimental work was performed by testing 30 concrete cylinders (120 × 400mm2) subjected to pure compression to achieve the complete stress-strain curve. Test specimens were confined with various internal and external confinement ratios and different types of confining material such as steel, Carbon FRP (CFRP) and Glass FRP (GFRP). The compressive strength, corresponding strain and the complete stress-strain curve of the tested specimenswere indicated. The test results showthat the... 

In this paper, compressive strength of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) confined concrete cylinders is formulated using a hybrid method coupling genetic programming (GP) and simulated annealing (SA), called GP/SA, and a robust variant of GP, namely multi expression programming (MEP). Straightforward GP/SA and MEP-based prediction equations are derived for the compressive strength of CFRP-wrapped concrete cylinders. The models are constructed using two sets of predictor variables. The first set comprises diameter of concrete cylinder, unconfined concrete strength, tensile strength of CFRP laminate, and total thickness of CFRP layer. The most widely used parameters of unconfined concrete... 

Crashworthiness, energy absorption capacity, and safety are important factors in the design of lightweight vehicles made of fiber-reinforced polymer composite (FRP) components. The relatively recent emergence of the nanotechnology industry has presented a novel means to augment the mechanical properties of various materials. As a result, recent attempts have contemplated the use of nanoparticles to further improve the resiliency of resins, especially when resins are used for mating FRP components. Therefore, a comprehensive understanding of the response of nanoreinforced polymer composites, subjected to various rates of loading, is of paramount importance for developing reliable structures.... 

Soils are usually weak in tension therefore different materials such as geosynthetics are used to address this inadequacy. Worldwide annual consumption of geosynthetics is close to 1000 million m2, and the value of these materials is probably close to US$1500 million. Since the total cost of the construction is at least four or five times the cost of the geosynthetic itself, the impact of these materials on civil engineering construction is very large indeed. Nevertheless, there are several significant problems associated with geosynthetics, such as creep, low modulus of elasticity, and susceptibility to aggressive environment. Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) was introduced over two... 

In this experimental study the effect of physical and thermal properties of various FRP bars on their performance under elevated temperatures are investigated. The parameters included the bars' diameter, type of fiber, type of resin, fiber to matrix ratio, and thermal properties were studied. Moreover, ANOVA (ANalysis Of VAriance) was performed in order to investigate the contribution of each variable on the obtained results. The results showed that in addition to the temperature, the bars' diameter, type of fiber, type of resin, and thermal properties (Tg and Td) of the FRP bars have contributions to the results, while the fiber to matrix ratio was found to be an ineffective factor. It was... 

This research investigates the flexural behavior of a polymer concrete beam/pile encased with carbon fiber sleeve. The mechanical properties of carbon fiber sleeves in tension and cement and polymer concrete in compression were determined. Polymer concrete beams were tested in flexure to determine the bending moment capacity. Then, the test results were compared to the theoretical model results. Finally, a parametric study was conducted to determine the influence of beam/pile parameters on the capacity of the element. Based on the investigation, carbon fiber sleeve filled with polymer concrete exhibits outstanding structural performance including ductility and bending capacity. © 2017 Taylor... 

This study examined the bond at the interface of masonry bricks and fiber-reinforced polymer when exposed to five environments. Three fabrics (aramid, carbon, and glass) and one type of epoxy resin were used. A total of 375 brick-fiber-reinforced polymer specimens were made using wet lay-up technic and exposed to chemical solutions at four pH values (2.5, 7, 10, and 12.5) and substitute seawater. The effect of dry heat on the bond at the interface was also investigated. Single-lap shear tests were then carried out on the samples after 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 13 weeks of exposure. The experimental results indicated that freshwater and seawater had a considerable effect on the bond strength of... 

This study presents a framework that utilizes Bayesian regression to create probabilistic cost models for retrofit actions. Performance improvement is the key parameter introduced in the proposed framework. The incorporation of this novel feature facilitates the characterization of retrofit cost as a continuous function of the desired performance improvement. Accounting for the performance gained from retrofit enables the use of the models in determining the optimal level of retrofit. Furthermore, accounting for the model uncertainty facilitates the use of the models in risk and reliability analyses. The proposed framework is applied to create seismic retrofit cost models for masonry school... 

The bond of fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) reinforcement is expected to be more sensitive to the strength and geometry of the ribs than conventional steel reinforcement. In this study, the effect of carbon fiber mat anchorage on the pullout behavior of glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars embedded in normal concrete is studied. The studied parameters were the compressive strength of the concrete (16 MPa, 24 MPa, and 37 MPa), and, the length and diameter of the anchorage. In total, 15 variables were studied. Ribbed GFRP bars with 10 mm nominal diameter and 80 mm embedment length, ld, (which is 8 times the bar diameter) were considered. Based on the results for concretes with the... 

In this study, the effects of fiber type (i.e., carbon and glass fibers) and intumescent paint on the tensile performance of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) sheets at elevated temperatures are investigated. For this purpose, a series of tensile tests were conducted on the glass and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (GFRP and CFRP) sheets, with and without intumescent fire retardant paint, at different elevated temperatures. The studied temperatures ranged from 25 °C to 600 °C. Scanning electron microscopy was also used to examine the effects of elevated temperatures on FRP sheets and the fire protecting mechanism of the intumescent paint. Based on the test results, the tensile strength of the... 

This paper studies the results of compression diagonal tests conducted on a series of retrofitted and non-retrofitted small-scale masonry walls (which are also known as wallettes). Wallettes with the same characteristics and mechanical properties of large masonry walls were retrofitted by using two arrays of glass fiber reinforcement polymer (GFRP) sheets (grid and diagonal), two arrays of carbon fiber reinforcement polymer (CFRP) sheets (grid and diagonal), and near surface mounted bars (steel and GFRP). FRP sheets were applied to both surfaces of the wallettes, and rebar was mounted onto one of the surfaces in two horizontal and two vertical arrangements. All of the methods significantly... 

This research investigated the long-term environmental effects on bond strength at the interface between fiber- reinforced polymers (FRPs) and timber. A total of 581 timber specimens were bonded with seven types of FRP sheets (unidirectional and bidirectional glass, carbon, aramid, and hybrids) using a wet lay-up technique. The specimens were exposed to acidic, alkaline, fresh water, and sea water solutions with pH of 2.5, 7, 7.25, 10, and 12.5 for 1, 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. A chamber was also used to simulate ultraviolet radiation after 6 months. A series of single-lap shear tests were then conducted to determine the interfacial bond strength reduction. The results showed that bidirectional... 

This research investigated the long-term environmental effects on the bond at the interface between fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) and a masonry brick. Seven types of FRP fabrics were used and placed on the masonry brick using the wet lay-up technique. Unidirectional and bidirectional fibers made of aramid, carbon, and glass and also combination of these fabrics were used. A total of 525 specimens were exposed to five chemical solutions with pH values of 2.5, 7, 10, 12.5 and substitution sea water for 1, 3, 6, 9 and 12 months. A chamber was also used to simulate the ultraviolent (UV) radiation on the specimens. A series of single-lap shear tests were performed on these specimens to determine... 

This paper presents the results of diagonal compression tests conducted on a series of un-reinforced and reinforced masonry specimens. Reinforced specimens were strengthened by using three types of mortar coating (with and without inner reinforcement), mesh reinforcement, and PP-band reinforcement. In particular, four different reinforcement methods with mortar coating (bare mortar coating, coating with steel mesh, coating with polymer reinforcement, and coating with GFRP mesh reinforcement), three different mesh-only reinforcement (steel mesh, polymer mesh with larger grids, and polymer mesh with smaller grids), and 2 different arrangements of PP-bands (4 × 4 and 6 × 6) were tested. Also,... 

The advantages of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP), such as high specific strength, resistance against corrosion and formability, have made it a more acceptable alternative to conventional materials regarding repairing and retrofitting of structures. Although investigations in recent years have proved the concern of civil engineers about the environmental effects on the bond between FRP and concrete or masonry (especially moisture and temperature), only few researches have been reported on FRP-wood interfaces. This research investigated the effect of five different environments on the bond at the interface between FRP and wood. A series of pull-out tests were performed on 375 wood specimens...