Photograph of failed specimen: close-up of failed GFRP tie and bulged bar.
July 14, 2009 — Coral Gables — Why Reinforcing Concrete Columns with Internal Bars Made of Glass Fibers Can Make a Building More Sturdy - The University of Miami, through its NSF Industry/University Cooperative Research Center RB2C performed the first-ever tests of full-scale concrete columns internally reinforced with glass fiber reinforced polymer bars. Conventional means of internal reinforcement for concrete member in buildings involve steel bars. Yet for structures that function in harsh environments like coastal regions, or for structures that support sensitive equipment, such as magnetic resonance imaging units; the use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) is emerging as a valuable option, due to its natural resistance to corrosion, its high strength, light weight, transparency to electrical and magnetic fields and ease of manufacturing and installment. However, little has been done to study the performance of concrete columns reinforced with FRP bars. Currently the American Concrete Institute, a nonprofit technical and educational society and one of the world's leading authorities on concrete technology, does not address the use of FRP bars for reinforcement in columns, but welcomes additional relevant research and experimental evidence. Full-scale experiments are critical to validate the technology, and to produce compelling evidence that underpins rational design methodologies. To address this need, the National Science Foundation (NSF) Industry/University Cooperative Research Center 'Repair of Buildings and Bridges with Composites' (RB2C) at the University of Miami (UM) examined the behavior of concrete (RC) columns internally reinforced with glass FRP (GFRP) bars on full-scale specimens for the first time ever.
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